Elsevier

Animal Behaviour

Volume 42, Issue 5, November 1991, Pages 771-796
Animal Behaviour

The functional significance of parasitic egg laying and typical nesting in redhead ducks: an analysis of individual behaviour

https://doi.org/10.1016/S0003-3472(05)80122-8Get rights and content

Abstract

At the population level, redhead ducks, Aythya americana, lay as many as 75% of their eggs parasitically but at least some females lay and incubate eggs in their own nests (‘typical nesting’). Parasitic egg laying by redheads was documented with remote, time-lapse photography of potential host nests, allowing histories of parasitic egg laying and typical nesting to be compiled for individual females. In 1986 and 1987, years of favourable environmental conditions, many adult (≥2 years old) females laid parasitic eggs prior to initiating their own nests in the same season. This dual strategy of individuals was reflected at the population level: the seasonal peak of parasitic egg laying preceded that of typical nesting and per caput rates of both parasitic egg laying and nesting were high. In contrast, redhead females either laid parasitic eggs or nested but did not do both during a drought in 1988. It is suggested that all redhead females employ a flexible, conditional reproductive strategy with four options of increasing reproductive effort: (1) nonbreeding, (2) parasitic egg laying, (3) typical nesting, and (4) a dual strategy of parasitic egg laying prior to nesting. When environmental conditions are favourable, a dual strategy enables redheads to increase their fecundity above the normal limits to clutch size. When prospects for successful nesting are poor, females reduce reproductive effort and employ parasitic egg laying as a low-cost alternative to nesting. Age-related differences in reproductive tactics were consistent with this model.

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    Present Address: Conservation & Research Center, U.S. National Zoological Park, Smithsonian Institution, Front Royal, Virginia 22630, U.S.A.

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