Species Differences in Male Parental Care in Birds: A Reexamination of Correlates with Paternity

P. L. Schwagmeyer, Robert C. St. Clair, James D. Moodie, Timothy C. Lamey, Gary D. Schnell
1999 The AUK: A Quarterly Journal of Ornithology  
Smith 1978, 1982; Werren et al. 1980; Wittenberger 1981; Westneat et al. 1990; Simmons and Parker 1996). Empirical results on the issue clearly could be useful in resolving the controversy, and Moller and Birkhead (1993) recently offered such; their comparative analyses of the relationship between male parental care and paternity in birds is the only such study available for any taxon. Using paternity data from 52 species, they found a significant negative relationship between the share of
more » ... ing feeding done by males and the frequency of extrapair paternity: high extrapair paternity was associated with relatively low male contributions to nestling feeding. This inverse relationship between extrapair paternity and the extent of nestling feeding by males was statistically significant when subjected to two comparative methods: (1) analysis by independent con- trasts (Felsenstein 1985), and (2) comparisons of differences between pairs of closely related species (Moller and Birkhead 1992). Several problems have been identified with the data set used by Moller and Birkhead (see Dunn and Lifjeld 1994, Dale 1995). Here, we provide a reexamination of the relationship between male participation in posthatching care and paternity, using a revised and updated data set. We also provide further analyses of 487 [Auk, Vol. 116 assessed by DNA fingerprinting. Molecular Ecology 3:383-392. FREELAND, J. R., S. J. HANNON, G. DOBUSH, AND P. t. BOAG. 1995. Extra-pair paternity in Willow Ptarmigan broods: Measuring costs of polygyny to males. Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology 36: 349-355.
doi:10.2307/4089381 fatcat:tvfxupx4prg2pm2igz6ajfdaem