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Experimental increase in food supply influences the outcome of within-family conflicts in Tengmalm’s owl

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Abstract

Within a family there are conflicts of interest between parents and offspring, and between male and female parents, over the supply of parental care. The observed pattern of parental care is the outcome of negotiations within the family, and may be influenced by environmental factors such as food abundance. We experimentally increased food supply to ten Tengmalm’s owl (Aegolius funereus) nests from hatching to fledging, mimicking natural cached prey. Ten un-supplemented nests served as controls. Parents and offspring were fitted with radio-tags. Food provisioning by parents was measured both in the (1) mid- and (2) late nestling stage and in the (3) early and (4) late post-fledging stage. In response to food supplementation, both males and females reduced food provisioning, but the effect was more pronounced in females. Females generally contributed much less to food provisioning than males, and food supplementation increased the difference between the sexes. Mass loss during the brooding stage was substantially lower for supplemented than for control females. Food supplementation did not improve offspring survival, and had no effect on body measurements of nestlings. In conclusion, parents of both sexes used the increased food supply to reduce the costs of caring for their current offspring, but females responded more strongly than males.

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Acknowledgements

We thank O. Heie, E. J. Hildrum and H. Vognild for assistance in the field; R. Bjørnstad, G. Nyhus, the late F. Rønning, K. Skjærvik, O. Skjærvik, T. Wernberg and E. Østby for finding some of the of owl nests; H. Birkelund for X-raying nest remains, G. Bjørnstad for instructions on blood sampling and DNA extraction of blood samples; K. Kjus for providing laboratory mice; J. Beheim and H. Klungland for analysing blood samples and S. Dale, R. Å. Norberg, D. Oughton, V. Selås, T. Slagsvold, J. Swenson, E. Tryterud, J. O. Vik and two anonymous referees for comments on previous drafts of the manuscript.

Ethical standards

The experiments in this study comply with Norwegian law, the Directorate for Nature Management and the National Animal Research Authority in Norway granted permission to trap and radio-tag the owls, and the Directorate for Nature Management granted permission to trap small mammals.

Funding

The Research Council of Norway and the Nansen Endowment provided financial support for the study. The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

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  1. Department of Ecology and Natural Resource Management, Norwegian University of Life Sciences, P.O. Box 5003, 1432, Ås, Norway

    Katrine Eldegard & Geir A. Sonerud

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  1. Katrine Eldegard
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  2. Geir A. Sonerud
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Correspondence to Katrine Eldegard.

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Communicated by E. Korpimäki

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Eldegard, K., Sonerud, G.A. Experimental increase in food supply influences the outcome of within-family conflicts in Tengmalm’s owl. Behav Ecol Sociobiol 64, 815–826 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00265-009-0898-z

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