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Dissecting direct and indirect parental effects on reproduction in a wild bird of prey: dad affects when but not how much

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Abstract

Males can through their behavior (e.g., courtship feeding) exert an indirect effect on their partner’s reproductive traits, such as the seasonal timing and size of her clutch. Evidence for such indirect (male) effect on reproduction is starting to accumulate. We quantify female and male effects on reproduction in the tawny owl Strix aluco using a hierarchical mixed model on data collected in 1978–2013. We find that differences between males explain 7 % of the phenotypic variance in laying date (females 5 %). In contrast, females have a clear (11 %) effect on clutch size, whereas males have no effect. Based on multivariate hierarchical modeling, we find an individual-level correlation between the male-specific effect on laying date and his body mass (but not his plumage color or wing length). Heavy males may be able to affect their partner’s seasonal timing of laying because of an advantage in providing courtship feeding prior to reproduction. Our findings illustrate that males can be an important determinant of variation in reproduction and that multivariate mixed models present a general approach to pinpoint which individual characteristics could be associated with such indirect effects.

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported by the Academy of Finland (to PK). All members of Kimpari Bird Projects (KBP) and Veikko Tarsa are thanked for their help in collecting field data on the tawny owls. Reviewers are thanked for their comments which improved the quality of this paper. This is publication nr 17 from KBP.

Ethical standards

The procedures required to collect the data described in this work include capture of individuals, marking individuals by ringing, and measuring their morphology, which all fall under the ringing licenses of the authors, as provided by the relevant local authorities.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Biology, University of Turku, Turku, Finland

    Jon E. Brommer

  2. Aronia Research and Development Institute, Åbo Akademi and Novia University of Applied Sciences, Raseborgsvägen 9, 10600, Finland

    Patrik Karell

  3. Vanhansahantie 13B 7, FI-08800, Lohja, Finland

    Esa Aaltonen

  4. Tornihaukantie 8D 72, FI-02620, Espoo, Finland

    Kari Ahola

  5. Juusinkuja 1, FI-02700, Kauniainen, Finland

    Teuvo Karstinen

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  1. Jon E. Brommer
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  2. Patrik Karell
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  4. Kari Ahola
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  5. Teuvo Karstinen
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Correspondence to Jon E. Brommer.

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Communicated by A. Pilastro

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Brommer, J.E., Karell, P., Aaltonen, E. et al. Dissecting direct and indirect parental effects on reproduction in a wild bird of prey: dad affects when but not how much. Behav Ecol Sociobiol 69, 293–302 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00265-014-1842-4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00265-014-1842-4

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