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Incubation feeding by helpers influences female nest attendance in the green woodhoopoe, Phoeniculus purpureus

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Abstract

In many bird species, the female alone incubates the eggs, but the male provides her with some food during the incubation period. In cooperatively breeding species, helpers might be expected to assist the breeding male in provisioning the female, but their contribution has been generally ignored. Here, I show that in the green woodhoopoe, Phoeniculus purpureus, the breeding male and helpers of both sexes bring food to the incubating female. The helpers did not increase the overall amount of provisioning the female received: groups of all sizes delivered a similar amount of food per hour. Helpers did, however, reduce the workload of the breeding male. Male and female helpers provisioned incubating females equally, as expected in a species where both sexes are likely to derive equal benefits from their helping behaviours. Female nest attendance was positively related to the level of group provisioning, but only in the short term. Thus, the female-nutrition hypothesis, which suggests that incubation feeding can provide an important source of energy to the breeding female, is supported in the green woodhoopoe.

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Acknowledgements

I thank Frank, Shaun and Vernon Cockin, Bill Dutton, Willem Fourie and Mike Putzier for unlimited access to their land. I also thank Morné du Plessis for access to his study site and for useful discussions throughout the project. I am grateful to Nick Davies, Tim Fawcett and Jim Reynolds for helpful comments on earlier versions of the manuscript, and to Sarah Hodge for statistical advice. The work was supported by a Natural Environment Research Council studentship and a Junior Research Fellowship from Girton College, Cambridge. This study complies with the current laws of the countries in which it was conducted.

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  1. Department of Zoology, University of Cambridge, Downing Street, Cambridge, CB2 3EJ, UK

    Andrew N. Radford

  2. Percy FitzPatrick Institute of African Ornithology, Department of Zoology, University of Cape Town, Rondebosch 7701, South Africa

    Andrew N. Radford

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  1. Andrew N. Radford
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Correspondence to Andrew N. Radford.

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Communicated by I. Hartley

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Radford, A.N. Incubation feeding by helpers influences female nest attendance in the green woodhoopoe, Phoeniculus purpureus . Behav Ecol Sociobiol 55, 583–588 (2004). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00265-003-0747-4

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