Heterozygosity and fitness benefits of extrapair mate choice in White-rumped Swallows (Tachycineta leucorrhoa)

Ferretti, Valentina; Massoni, Viviana; Bulit, Florencia; Winkler, David W.; Lovette, Irby J.

doi:10.1093/beheco/arr103

Cited by 28 publications

(35 citation statements)

References 35 publications

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“…Though we did not observe direct evidence of extra-pair mating, it is welldocumented in this species (58 % of offspring may be extra-pair; Ferretti et al 2011). So, in theory, males could be caring for their young in other nests, but that does not explain female prospecting.…”

Section: Discussioncontrasting

confidence: 58%

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White-rumped swallows prospect while they are actively nesting

Wischhoff

Marques‐Santos

Ardia

et al. 2015

J Ethol

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Nest prospecting, that is, visiting potential future nest sites, may be a widespread bird behavior. Here we describe apparent prospecting while nesting by whiterumped swallows (Hirundinidae, Aves). In southern Brazil, birds tagged with passive-integrated transponders (PITtags) and breeding in nest boxes with PIT-tag readers: (1) often visited nest boxes that were in use by apparently unrelated birds (54 % of nests were visited at least once), (2) visited other boxes while caring for their own nestlings, (3) tended to have smaller broods than birds that were not recorded visiting, and (4) did not have a preference for any particular box. These patterns do not indicate any clear explanation for nest visiting, but they do show that prospecting is done by floaters (non-breeders) as well as actively breeding individuals. We suggest that these visits occur when time is available and that visitors may be assessing the availability of future nest sites.

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Section: Discussioncontrasting

confidence: 58%

“…While white-rumped swallows are socially monogamous, extra-pair copulations are common, at least in some populations (Ferretti et al 2011). Only females incubate but both sexes build nests and feed the young.…”

Section: Study Populationmentioning

confidence: 99%

White-rumped swallows prospect while they are actively nesting

Wischhoff

Marques‐Santos

Ardia

et al. 2015

J Ethol

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“…[4,20,34] for figure 1b,c,d, respectively). Figure 1b is also in line with findings of closer relatedness in EPC partners than social partners [16][17][18][19]. As a whole, our modelling supports the idea of Kleven et al [17] that kin selection and avoidance of inbreeding depression have to be considered together to understand the diversity of mating patterns with respect to inbreeding.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 90%

Why inclusive fitness can make it adaptive to produce less fit extra-pair offspring

Lehtonen

Kokko

2015

Proc. R. Soc. B.

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Social monogamy predominates in avian breeding systems, but most socially monogamous species engage in promiscuous extra-pair copulations (EPCs). The reasons behind this remain debated, and recent empirical work has uncovered patterns that do not seem to fit existing hypotheses. In particular, some results seem to contradict the inbreeding avoidance hypothesis: females can prefer extra-pair partners that are more closely related to them than their social partners, and extra-pair young can have lower fitness than within-pair young. Motivated by these studies, we show that such results can become explicable when an asymmetry in inbreeding tolerance between monogamy and polygamy is extended to species that combine both strategies within a single reproductive season. Under fairly general conditions, it can be adaptive for a female to choose an unrelated social partner, but inbreed with an extrapair partner. Inbreeding depression is compensated for by inclusive fitness benefits, which are only fully realized in EPCs. We also show that if a female has already formed a suboptimal social bond, there are scenarios where it is beneficial to engage in EPCs with less related males, and others where EPCs with more related males increase her inclusive fitness. This has implications for detecting general relatedness or fitness trends when averaged over several species.

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“…However, males defended the nest with similar intensity. Though extra‐pair paternity in this species can be high (Ferretti et al., ), this unbalance in parental care between the sexes is unlikely explained by the genetic relatedness to the brood. Aggressive males, with increased certainty of parentage, would be expected to invest more in feeding chicks, which does not occur (Westneat & Sherman, ).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 90%

Parenting styles in white‐rumped swallows (Tachycineta leucorrhoa) show a trade‐off between nest defense and chick feeding

et al. 2018

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Studies about personalities in wild animals usually focus on five categories of behavioral traits that do not easily accommodate all aspects of parental care, a class of behaviors with direct consequence to reproductive success. Parental care can vary consistently between individuals and constitute parenting styles. Here we investigate the consistency of four behaviors of parental care across two breeding seasons of white‐rumped swallows Tachycineta leucorrhoa in southern Brazil. These behaviors are a prospection of potential nest‐sites, nest defense against predators or conspecifics, and chick feeding. If these first three behaviors are consistent, they can be classified according to the standard categories of personality as exploration, boldness, and aggressiveness, respectively. We find that all behaviors, except exploration, are consistent between individuals in the long term. We also show that, besides individual identity, couple identity is an important component explaining variation in behavior. This pattern can arise if behavior influences pair formation or if behavior is a consequence of a common environment affecting the couple. We show that, depending on the parental task, males or females are more consistent, suggesting that sexes are adopting different strategies of parental care allocation. We then investigate if there is a trade‐off between nest defense and chick feeding. We find that birds that defend more also feed the brood less often and suggest that testosterone might be the mechanism modulating this trade‐off. Lastly, we discuss the implications of our results to mate choice and highlight the need for studies linking parenting styles to fitness in swallow species.

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Heterozygosity and fitness benefits of extrapair mate choice in White-rumped Swallows (Tachycineta leucorrhoa)

Cited by 28 publications

References 35 publications

White-rumped swallows prospect while they are actively nesting

White-rumped swallows prospect while they are actively nesting

Why inclusive fitness can make it adaptive to produce less fit extra-pair offspring

Parenting styles in white‐rumped swallows (Tachycineta leucorrhoa) show a trade‐off between nest defense and chick feeding

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