NOT THE NICE SPARROW: THE 2007 MARGARET MORSE NICE LECTURE

摘要

We began our studies of House Sparrow (Passer domesticus) biparental care in the mid-1990s by applying the classic Margaret Morse Nice field technique of color-banding individuals. Over the ensuing summers, we slowly accumulated quantitative provisioning records for 100 broods, even as we commenced a series of experimental manipulations. Provisioning data showed parental fitness, as expressed by offspring recruitment into the local breeding population, to be shaped mainly by the adults' ability to deliver enormous insect prey items. It also turned out that production of robust and competitive fledglings routinely involves losing one or more nestlings (brood reduction in 42% of 1,000 multi-chick families). Recruitment success was compensated for the death of an offspring if the subsequent reallocation of food enables surviving nest-mates to gain at least 2 g more before fledging. Video samples showed that parents of day 3 broods favored larger siblings, even though brood reduction typically occurs on ～day 4, suggesting that adults participate actively in promoting some offspring over others. The social dynamic affecting how parents work as a team during provisioning does not fit the pattern expected if partners negotiate actively with one another, but points more toward the likelihood of "sealed bids." Specifically, experimental handicapping of individual parents (tail-weights and hormone implants) indicates partners operate quite independently during brood-rearing. We are now extending our experiments into the incubation phase, where parents are probably better-informed about partner activities, thus potentially able to adjust to fluctuating contributions. Finally, behavioral rules affecting food deliveries seem to differ for females and males. Females normally increase provisioning as the brood ages, but males do not. However, when broods received supplemental nutrients, males matched the female upsurge, accelerating their deliveries by 25%, showing they usually work well below capacity.