Parental care and sexual dimorphism in the Warbling Doradito (Pseudocolopteryx flaviventris)

MG PRETELLI; AV BALADRÓN; DA CARDONI; EA MADRID; JP ISACCH; NM CHIARADIA

JOURNAL FUR ORNITHOLOGIE

WILEY-BLACKWELL PUBLISHING, INC

Lugar: Londres; Año: 2017 vol. 158 p. 159 - 167

0021-8375

Biparental care is the dominant form of parental care in birds. Parental duties division within the pair has been explained by mating system and sexual selection. However the species? breeding ecology can also influence the roles division and parental investment of each sex in nestling care. Tyrant flycatchers conform one of the most diverse bird families in the world, but the lack of information and some biological attributes of many species (e.g. low sexual dimorphism) difficult determinate the parental care roles. In this study, we describe external sexual characters and determinate the parental care behavior at nest of the Warbling Doradito (Pseudocolopteryx flaviventris), especially considering the potential role of sexual differences in relation to parental roles at nest. Parental individuals were captured, banded and measured, and a blood sample was taken for sex determination. In addition, we located mini cameras in each nest to quantify the parental care behavior. Our results indicate that the mode of parental care in the Warbling Doradito was biparental, biased towards females. Females did all the incubation activity as well as the 74% of activities of nestling brooding and feeding. These differences were correlated with sexual dimorphism, slight in size and plumage but conspicuous in peak color. Our work provide new information about the mode of parental care in a Pseudocolopteryx species, adding evidence to the discussion about the relationship between the degree of sexual dimorphism, the mating system, and the role division in the parental care.