Folsom MA, MacPherson M, Lukas D, McCune KB, Bergeron L, Bond A, Blackwell A, Rowney C, Logan CJPlease use the format "First name initials family name" as in "Marie S. Curie, Niels H. D. Bohr, Albert Einstein, John R. R. Tolkien, Donna T. Strickland"
This is a PREREGISTRATION submitted for pre-study peer review. Our planned data collection START DATE is May 2020, therefore it would be ideal if the peer review process could be completed before then.
Abstract: Great-tailed grackles (Quiscalus mexicanus) are known to have a mating system where females are the sole builders of the nest and caretakers of the young (Johnson et al. (2000)). However, there is one report from Selander (1970) in which an unmarked male great-tailed grackle provided parental care to two juveniles in Austin, Texas. Here, we report repeated parental care events by multiple individually marked adult males in a population of great-tailed grackles in Tempe, Arizona. We also report male parental care by unmarked adult males in Tempe, Arizona; Santa Barbara, California; and San Clemente, California. We then propose to test hypotheses to determine whether male parental care 1) is associated with hormone profiles (testosterone, estrogen, prolactin, progesterone) potentially because hormones mediate investment in competition and care behavior; 2) increases direct fitness; 3) is a local adaptation, unique to specific populations where it has evolved; and 4) is a mating strategy.
birds, great-tailed grackle, parental care, male care, hormones, fitness, adaptation, mating strategy
Behaviour & Ethology, Biological invasions, Preregistrations, Zoology