Presentation Details
| Nest placement mediates biparental care and nest success via a detectability–predation trade-off. Facundo Fernandez-Duque1, Kaela Salehzadeh1, Angelica Groszek1, Jacob Mydlinski1, Angelina Roman-Alcocer1, Alison M.Bell1, Mark E.Hauber2. 1University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL, USA.2City University of New York, Graduate Center, New York, NY, USA |
Abstract
We propose the Crib Placement Hypothesis: that a nesting parent can mediate the other parent's investment by choosing a nest location that modulates offspring detectability and the cost–benefit landscape of parental involvement. We tested this by manipulating nest height in red-winged blackbirds, Agelaius phoeniceus (N = 54), across a natural gradient of water depths. Nest height and water depth jointly predicted baseline male, but not female, provisioning. Lowering nests reduced male provisioning (p = 0.046), with one-third of males abandoning care, while females showed no change. The mechanism was acoustic: changes in sound pressure level of begging calls at the canopy, not physical displacement, mediated male behavioral plasticity. Fitness consequences depended on predation context: increasing detectability improved nest survival over land (p = 0.006) but was detrimental over deep water (interaction: p = 0.005). This effect was not mediated by male provisioning (p = 0.51), implicating conspicuousness costs rather than benefits of additional care. Nest-site choice thus functions as a strategic decision shaping the sensory, behavioral, and fitness landscape of biparental care.
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No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the author.
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