Should I stay or should I go: Is vocal communication a key to coordinated parental care in a monogamous seabird, the Little Auk (Alle alle) ?

Abstract

**Abstract:** While most bird species exhibit bi-parental care, with both parents adjusting theirs workload in respect to each other, still little is known of how this adjustment is achieved. Vocal communication has recently been pointed out as a potential mechanism of such parental care adjustment in songbirds, but remains poorly studied in seabirds. Here we examine the role of partners' vocal interactions in the parental care of a monogamous seabird, the Little Auk (Alle alle). Little Auks' breeding partners share their parental duties equally and in a coordinated manner; during the whole breeding period they frequently meet at the nest and vocalize together, which makes it a perfect system for studying the role of vocal communication in parental coordination. We investigate whether the temporal and acoustical structure of the partners' vocal interaction in the nest predict its output (relief or not of the incubating partner), and whether they are related to the duration of the previous and subsequent incubation bouts. Our results are the first attempt to answer such questions in seabirds, and we believe they will constitute a solid background for both examining the mechanisms regulating parental care and the importance of vocal communication between avian breeding partners. **Authors:** Marion Devogel¹, Antoine Grissot¹, Dorota Kidawa¹, Marcelo Araya-Salas², Katarzyna Wojczulanis-Jakubas¹ ¹University of Gdansk, ²Universidad de San josé