Skip Navigation

This Article
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Add to My Personal Archive
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrowRequest Permissions
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Winkler, D. W.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow Articles by Winkler, D. W.
Social Bookmarking
Add to CiteULike   Add to Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us  
What's this?

© 1991 International Society for Behavioral Ecology

research-article

Parental investment decision rules in tree swallows: parental defense, abandonment, and the so-called Concorde Fallacy

David W. Winkler

Division of Biological Sciences, Section of Ecology and Systematics, Cornell University Corson Hall,Ithaca, NY 14853

ABSTRACT

I conducted an experiment to detect the importance of past investment and expected benefits to reproductive "decision making" by tree swallows (Tachycineta bicolor). Three experimental groups, balanced for measurable indicators of parental quality, were created: one had its clutch reduced in size near the beginning of incubation, the second had its brood reduced near chickfledging, and the third had no brood or clutch reduction. All experimental groups were tested for differences in 19 measures of parental defense behavior at the same stage in the nesting cycle by exposing them on successive days to two different predators, a ferret and a rat snake, at the nest box. There were no detectable effects of experimental treatment on parental defense; however, there were differences in abandonment frequency related to the severity of experimental clutch reduction. These results suggest that tree swallows respond to differences in expected benefits in "deciding" whether or not to abandon a nesting attempt. Because past investment can affect the prospective costs of abandonment and renesting, the most natural currency for comparing costs and benefits is prospective. Adopting such a currency for parental "decisions" lessens concern over the so-called Concorde Fallacy, but it highlights our relative ignorance of how past reproductive effort influences the costs of future reproduction. [Behav Ecol 1991,2:133–142]


Add to CiteULike CiteULike   Add to Connotea Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us Del.icio.us    What's this?


This article has been cited by other articles:


Home page
 Behav EcolHome page
K. Kosciuch, T. Parker, and B. Sandercock
Nest desertion by a cowbird host: an antiparasite behavior or a response to egg loss?
Behav. Ecol., November 1, 2006; 17(6): 917 - 924.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Home page
 Behav EcolHome page
M. D. Jennions and D. A. Polakow
The effect of partial brood loss on male desertion in a cichlid fish: an experimental test
Behav. Ecol., January 1, 2001; 12(1): 84 - 92.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Home page
 Behav EcolHome page
D. Hasselquist, M. F. Wasson, and D. W. Winkler
Humoral immunocompetence correlates with date of egg-laying and reflects work load in female tree swallows
Behav. Ecol., January 1, 2001; 12(1): 93 - 97.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]


Disclaimer:
Please note that abstracts for content published before 1996 were created through digital scanning and may therefore not exactly replicate the text of the original print issues. All efforts have been made to ensure accuracy, but the Publisher will not be held responsible for any remaining inaccuracies. If you require any further clarification, please contact our Customer Services Department.