Response to begging calls by Zebra Finch parents: "first come, first served" rule may overcome a parental preference between chicks.
In birds, parents may provide differential food provisioning among offspring according to their sex. Here, we test the hypothesis that events linked to the fine dynamics of begging behaviour could modulate parental preferences. After evaluating the preference related to chick sex for each parent of six Zebra Finch Taeniopygia guttata pairs, we studied the possible modifications of this preference when offspring begging was asynchronous. Our observations show that male parents follow a "first come, first served" rule, whereas females keep their initial choice. Although this study remains preliminary due to the sample size, it underlines the potential importance of investigating fine temporal features of begging behaviour to fully understand parents' provisioning strategies.
Équipe de neuro-éthologie sensorielle (ENES), UMR 8195, centre national de la recherche scientifique (CNRS), centre de neurosciences Paris-Sud (CNPS), université de Lyon/Saint-Étienne, 23, rue Michelon, 42023 Saint-Étienne, France.
Florence
F
Levréro
Alain
A
Blanc
Nicolas
N
Mathevon
D000818:Animals; D005247:Feeding Behavior; D005260:Female; D046369:Finches; D008297:Male; D008425:Maternal Behavior; D010332:Paternal Behavior; D014828:Vocalization, Animal