Parental care in a sexually monomorphic Picid, the Red-headed Woodpecker
Parental care is energetically costly and is thus shared by parents in many bird species. Little is known about how parental care is shared in pairs of sexually monomorphic species. Red-headed Woodpeckers (Melanerpes erythrocephalus) are a sexually monomorphic and socially monogamous species in an a...
| Main Authors: | , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Resilience Alliance
2022-06-01
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| Series: | Journal of Field Ornithology |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://journal.afonet.org/vol93/iss2/art3/ |
| _version_ | 1811321782656827392 |
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| author | L. Abigail. Walter Catherine Viverette Lesley Bulluck |
| author_facet | L. Abigail. Walter Catherine Viverette Lesley Bulluck |
| author_sort | L. Abigail. Walter |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Parental care is energetically costly and is thus shared by parents in many bird species. Little is known about how parental care is shared in pairs of sexually monomorphic species. Red-headed Woodpeckers (Melanerpes erythrocephalus) are a sexually monomorphic and socially monogamous species in an almost exclusively dimorphic family (> 99% of species; Picidae). We assessed duration of diurnal incubation and brooding and frequency of nestling provisioning and nest cleaning for individually marked breeding Red-headed Woodpeckers at Fort A.P. Hill, Virginia, USA. Individuals were genetically sexed using DNA from feather samples. In addition to parent sex, we evaluated the influence of nestling characteristics (brood size and nestling age) and exogenous factors (habitat type, date, and maximum daily temperature) on parental care behaviors. We recorded and analyzed video at nests during the incubation and nestling stages. We found that females diurnally incubate more than males and males almost exclusively remove fecal sacs from nests. Using generalized linear mixed models, we found females brood young nestlings more than males, but males are the only parent to enter the cavity when chicks are > 10 days old. We found provisioning peaked during the middle of the nestling period, and provisioning frequency was higher in early summer (before 7 July) compared to late summer. The seasonal reduction in provisioning could be related to resource availability but warrants further study. This division of reproductive roles is common in dimorphic woodpecker species and supports the existence of energetic constraints to successfully fledge altricial offspring. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-13T13:23:44Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-51d6ee31b6164830bf45881a482c5c69 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1557-9263 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-13T13:23:44Z |
| publishDate | 2022-06-01 |
| publisher | Resilience Alliance |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Journal of Field Ornithology |
| spelling | doaj.art-51d6ee31b6164830bf45881a482c5c692022-12-22T02:45:14ZengResilience AllianceJournal of Field Ornithology1557-92632022-06-01932389Parental care in a sexually monomorphic Picid, the Red-headed WoodpeckerL. Abigail. Walter0Catherine Viverette1Lesley Bulluck2Department of Biology, Virginia Commonwealth UniversityCenter for Environmental Studies, Virginia Commonwealth UniversityCenter for Environmental Studies, Virginia Commonwealth UniversityParental care is energetically costly and is thus shared by parents in many bird species. Little is known about how parental care is shared in pairs of sexually monomorphic species. Red-headed Woodpeckers (Melanerpes erythrocephalus) are a sexually monomorphic and socially monogamous species in an almost exclusively dimorphic family (> 99% of species; Picidae). We assessed duration of diurnal incubation and brooding and frequency of nestling provisioning and nest cleaning for individually marked breeding Red-headed Woodpeckers at Fort A.P. Hill, Virginia, USA. Individuals were genetically sexed using DNA from feather samples. In addition to parent sex, we evaluated the influence of nestling characteristics (brood size and nestling age) and exogenous factors (habitat type, date, and maximum daily temperature) on parental care behaviors. We recorded and analyzed video at nests during the incubation and nestling stages. We found that females diurnally incubate more than males and males almost exclusively remove fecal sacs from nests. Using generalized linear mixed models, we found females brood young nestlings more than males, but males are the only parent to enter the cavity when chicks are > 10 days old. We found provisioning peaked during the middle of the nestling period, and provisioning frequency was higher in early summer (before 7 July) compared to late summer. The seasonal reduction in provisioning could be related to resource availability but warrants further study. This division of reproductive roles is common in dimorphic woodpecker species and supports the existence of energetic constraints to successfully fledge altricial offspring.https://journal.afonet.org/vol93/iss2/art3/broodingincubationmelanerpes erythrocephalusmonomorphismnest cleaningparental careprovisioning |
| spellingShingle | L. Abigail. Walter Catherine Viverette Lesley Bulluck Parental care in a sexually monomorphic Picid, the Red-headed Woodpecker Journal of Field Ornithology brooding incubation melanerpes erythrocephalus monomorphism nest cleaning parental care provisioning |
| title | Parental care in a sexually monomorphic Picid, the Red-headed Woodpecker |
| title_full | Parental care in a sexually monomorphic Picid, the Red-headed Woodpecker |
| title_fullStr | Parental care in a sexually monomorphic Picid, the Red-headed Woodpecker |
| title_full_unstemmed | Parental care in a sexually monomorphic Picid, the Red-headed Woodpecker |
| title_short | Parental care in a sexually monomorphic Picid, the Red-headed Woodpecker |
| title_sort | parental care in a sexually monomorphic picid the red headed woodpecker |
| topic | brooding incubation melanerpes erythrocephalus monomorphism nest cleaning parental care provisioning |
| url | https://journal.afonet.org/vol93/iss2/art3/ |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT labigailwalter parentalcareinasexuallymonomorphicpicidtheredheadedwoodpecker AT catherineviverette parentalcareinasexuallymonomorphicpicidtheredheadedwoodpecker AT lesleybulluck parentalcareinasexuallymonomorphicpicidtheredheadedwoodpecker |