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Behavioral and physiological responses to male handicap in chick-rearing black-legged kittiwakes

Leclaire, Sarah ; Bourret, Vincent ; Wagner, Richard H. ; Hatch, Scott A. ; Helfenstein, Fabrice ; Chastel, Olivier ; Danchin, Étienne

In: Behavioral Ecology, 2011, vol. 22, no. 6, p. 1156-1165

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    Title
    • Behavioral and physiological responses to male handicap in chick-rearing black-legged kittiwakes
    Author
    • Leclaire, Sarah. CNRS, UPS, ENFA, EDB (Laboratoire Évolution & Diversité Biologique), UMR5174, 118 Route de Narbonne, 118 Route de Narbonne, 31062 Toulouse Cedex 9, France
    • Bourret, Vincent. CNRS, UPS, ENFA, EDB (Laboratoire Évolution & Diversité Biologique), UMR5174, 118 Route de Narbonne, 118 Route de Narbonne, 31062 Toulouse Cedex 9, France
    • Wagner, Richard H.. Konrad Lorenz Institute for Ethology, Department of Integrative Biology and Evolution, University of Veterinary Medicine, Savoyenstrasse 1a, 1160 Vienna, Austria
    • Hatch, Scott A.. U.S. Geological Survey, Alaska Science Center, 4210 University Drive, Anchorage, AK 99508, USA
    • Helfenstein, Fabrice. Evolutionary Ecology Group, Institute of Ecology and Evolution, University of Bern, Baltzerstrasse 6, CH-3012 Bern, Switzerland
    • Chastel, Olivier. Centre d'Études Biologiques de Chizé, CNRS, F-79360 Villiers en Bois, France
    • Danchin, Étienne. CNRS, UPS, ENFA, EDB (Laboratoire Évolution & Diversité Biologique), UMR5174, 118 Route de Narbonne, 118 Route de Narbonne, 31062 Toulouse Cedex 9, France
    Document Type
    • Postprint
    Language
    • English
    Published in
    • Behavioral Ecology, 2011, vol. 22, no. 6, p. 1156-1165. Oxford University Press
    Other Version
    OAI-PMH Identifier
    • oai:doc.rero.ch:301729
    Summary
    Parental investment entails a trade-off between the benefits of effort in current offspring and the costs to future reproduction. Long-lived species are predicted to be reluctant to increase parental effort to avoid affecting their survival. We tested this hypothesis in black-legged kittiwakes Rissa tridactyla by clipping flight feathers of experimental males at the beginning of the chick-rearing period. We analyzed the consequences of this handicap on feeding and attendance behavior, body condition, integument coloration, and circulating levels of corticosterone and prolactin in handicapped males and their mates in comparison to unmanipulated controls. Chicks in both groups were compared in terms of aggressive behavior, growth, and mortality. Handicapped males lost more mass, had less bright integuments, and attended the nest less often than controls. Nevertheless, they fed their chicks at the same rate and had similar corticosterone and prolactin levels. Compared with control females, females mated with handicapped males showed a lower provisioning rate and higher nest attendance in the first days after manipulation. Their lower feeding rate probably triggered the increased sibling aggression and mortality observed in experimental broods. Our findings suggest that experimental females adaptively adjusted their effort to their mate's perceived quality or that their provisioning was constrained by their higher nest attendance. Overall, our results suggest that kittiwake males can decrease their condition for the sake of their chicks, which seems to contradict the hypothesis that kittiwakes should be reluctant to increase parental effort to avoid affecting their survival