Is the transition from biparental to male-only care in a monogamous seabird related to changes in body mass and stress level?

Abstract

In a number of species with biparental care, the parents of one sex desert the mate and brood before the chick is independent. The reasons for this desertion are poorly understood. In the study reported here we investigated whether sex-specific changes in body mass corrected for size (in short body mass) and the stress-related heterophil to lymphocyte ratio (H:L) during the late incubation and chick-rearing period are related to female brood desertion in a small Arctic seabird, the Little Auk (Alle alle). The body mass of both sexes did not change during the study periods, although females were significantly lighter than males. No sex differences were found in the pattern of changes in the H:L ratio. In both sexes, the H:L ratio, and thus the stress level, increased significantly just after hatching and remained high until the last week of chick rearing when it fell back to the level recorded during incubation. These results support behavioural reports of an equal male and female contribution to parental care. The similar body condition of males and females undermines the hypothesis on the depletion of female body reserves as the main trigger of their earlier brood desertion. It is possible that a sex-specific role in parental care during and after fledging and/or an ancestral pattern of parental care are responsible for the transition to paternal care in Little Auks.