Incubation behaviour in male Northern Lapwings Vanellus vanellus in relation to mating opportunities and female body condition

摘要

In polygynous Northern Lapwings Vanellits vanellus, males incubate less than females, possibly because males give priority to mating activities. We studied how male Lapwings responded to experimental and natural clutch loss after about ten days of incubation. We expected 1) that neighbour males should reduce their parental effort because of increased mating opportunities, and 2) that paternal care should become more important, and hence increase, on replacement clutches due to added costs of egg production in females. Replacement clutches were initiated about one week after clutch losses, and were always placed near the first nest (mean distance 22m). We were unable to detect changes in male behaviour on neighbour territories, possibly due to the low availability of prospecting females. Only two of 19 females that lost their first clutch did not renest with their original male 7 (one evidently changed mate). During late incubation, female body condition was lowest on replacement nests, but without being accompanied by the predicted increase in male nest attentiveness.