Parental investment in monogamous pairs of Wood Warblers (Phylloscopus sibilatrix)

Abstract

In Wood WarblersPhylloscopus sibilatrix in South-Central Sweden, paired males spend considerable time trying to attract additional females either in outlying parts of their territory or in a secondary territory at some distance from the first. Approximately 20 % of the paired males succeed in attracting an additional female, while the rest stay monogamous. When the eggs hatch males assist in feeding the young. We studied parental care in monogamous pairs and investigated the proportion of males being paired in relation to the hatching of broods. Both feeding frequency and load size increased with age of the young. Feeding frequencies were higher in males than in females, while there was no difference in load size between the sexes. Nestlings are unable to thermoregulate the first days after hatching, and females spent considerable time brooding them. We also show that males do not gain by deserting the family when the broods hatch, since the probability to attract additional females at that time is low.