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© 1990 International Society for Behavioral Ecology

research-article

Opportunity of parentage and nest destruction in polygynandrous acorn woodpeckers, Melanerpes formidvorus

Walter D. Koenig

Museum of Vertebrate Zoology, Hastings Reservation, University of California Star Route Box 80, Carmel Valley, CA 93924, USA

ABSTRACT

Acorn woodpeckers (Melanerpes formidvorus) frequently breed in polygynandrous groups containing closely related cobreeding males. I performed an experiment to determine the effects of reducing or eliminating opportunity of parentage for male cobreeders by temporarily removing them during egg laying. Specifically, I tested whether indirect fitness benefits (Brown, Brown, 1981) were sufficient to induce normal feeding behavior among cobreeders denied opportunity of parentage or whether the birds might attempt to destroy the nest and force a renest. Controls consisted of temporarily removing cobreeders following the onset of incubation. Four out of eight experimental nests and one of seven control nests (p > 10) failed within three days following release of the detained bird. However, in experimental groups, presumed dominants destroyed the current nest and forced a renest in three of three cases, while presumed subordinates failed to do so in three cases (p = 05). In two of four cases in which nests were not destroyed, experimental birds subsequently fed offspring, suggesting that some cobreeders will provision nests solely for indirect fitness benefits. These results are consistent with the hypothesis that cobreeders adjust their behavior according to both direct and indirect fitness benefits, as predicted by inclusive fitness theory. However, additional experiments combined with data on reproductive bias among cobreeders are necessary to reject the alternative hypothesis that destroying the nest is in the best interest of all detained birds but that subordinates fail to do so because they are denied access to the nest by dominants.


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