The importance of biparental care in a precocial, monogamous bird, the bar-headed goose (Anser indicus)
✍ Scribed by Jutta Schneider; Jürg Lamprecht
- Publisher
- Springer
- Year
- 1990
- Tongue
- English
- Weight
- 559 KB
- Volume
- 27
- Category
- Article
- ISSN
- 0340-5443
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✦ Synopsis
This study presents the first direct evidence of benefit derived from the male's parental effort during rearing of young in a monogamous, precocial bird species. We compared mothers accompanied by a mate (paired mothers) with single mothers, some of which were artificial widows, in a semicaptive flock of barheaded geese (Anser indicus). Paired mothers were less often displaced by other birds and suffered fewer interruptions of brooding. Their goslings spent more time grazing and survived with a higher probability. Although one beneficial result of the male's parental effort may be the continued availability and survival of his mate, a more direct benefit arises from higher offspring survival between hatching and fledging.