Reproductive and behavioral aspects of red-winged tinamous (Rhynchotus rufescens) in groups with different sex ratios

Abstract

The aim of this research study was to evaluate the reproductive performance of tinamous submitted to five different male:female ratios. The study was carried out with 72 birds in a randomized experimental design with 4 replications. Tinamous were housed in cages, using the ratios of one (1:1), two (2:1), three (3:1) and four (4:1) females per male, and also one male was housed with three females individually (3R:1), in a rotational system. Reproductive records of the breeding season from September 2004 to March 2005 were used. The reproductive traits studied were: number of eggs laid, fertility, and percentage of eggs damaged and cracked by pecking. Nonparametric analyses of these traits were performed using Kruskal-Wallis test. Two replications of treatments 1:1 and 4:1, and one of treatment 2:1 were video-taped for three days, 12 hours/day. The videotapes were sampled according to the scan method to fit an ethogram. Birds were also watched for one hour per day to study dominance and agonistic behavior. None of the reproductive traits was affected by mating sex ratio (p<0.05). Female dominance could be related to displacement behavior (r=1.00), and male sitting in immobility plus sitting in activity behaviors were related to lower number of damaged eggs (r=-0.90). Social dominance was indirectly determined by displacement behavior in the study situation. A large number of damaged eggs occurred in all treatments, thereby not allowing a clear conclusion on the best male:female ratio.

Reproductive performance of red-winged tinamous (Rhynchotus rufescens) using different mating strategies in captivity - case report

“…In contrast to the present study, Cromberg et al (2007) found no significant differences (P>0.05) in the egg production of females between monogamous and polygynous mating. The results of the present study show that monogamous tinamous systems in captivity provided better egg production than systems in groups with a high density of animals per pen.…”

“…The fertility rates obtained for couples in the present study were superior to the performance of couples reported by Cromberg et al (2007), who obtained a percentage of 45.69%. The authors found no difference (P>0.05) compared to the group systems.…”

“…The monogamous mating system can be considered a reproductive strategy used for raising tinamous in captivity, which has the benefit of individual paternity identification for selection of reproductive traits. However, according to Cromberg et al (2007), the polygynous mating system (one male to two or more females) establishes benefits to genetic breeding program for domestication of redwinged tinamous. This information is important to improve research on the reproduction of red-winged tinamous, encouraging the increase of the fertility rate of these birds.…”

Effect of Litter Substrates on the Performance, Carcass Traits, and Environmental Comfort of Red-Winged Tinamou (Rhynchotus Rufescens)

“…This was expected because of the low bird density in each pen, which allowed bird movement and did not result in large excreta production, which would have caused litter moisture and caking, and therefore, higher probability of lesions. It must be noted, however, that applying higher bird rearing density could have compromised the experiment due to agonistic interactions among birds because red-winged tinamou is a non-domesticated species (Cromberg et al, 2007).…”