@article{943b2f54d0244760bab307fcd8951cab,
title = "Parental benefits and offspring costs reflect parent-offspring conflict over the age of fledging among songbirds",
abstract = "Parent-offspring conflict has explained a variety of ecological phenomena across animal taxa, but its role in mediating when songbirds fledge remains controversial. Specifically, ecologists have long debated the influence of songbird parents on the age of fledging: Do parents manipulate offspring into fledging to optimize their own fitness or do offspring choose when to leave? To provide greater insight into parent-offspring conflict over fledging age in songbirds, we compared nesting and postfledging survival rates across 18 species from eight studies in the continental United States. For 12 species (67%), we found that fledging transitions offspring from comparatively safe nesting environments to more dangerous postfledging ones, resulting in a postfledging bottleneck. This raises an important question: as past research shows that offspring would benefit-improve postfledging survival-by staying in the nest longer: Why then do they fledge so early? Our findings suggest that parents manipulate offspring into fledging early for their own benefit, but at the cost of survival for each individual offspring, reflecting parent-offspring conflict. Early fledging incurred, on average, a 13.6% postfledging survival cost for each individual offspring, but parents benefitted through a 14.0% increase in the likelihood of raising at least one offspring to independence. These parental benefits were uneven across species-driven by an interaction between nest mortality risk and brood size-and predicted the age of fledging among species. Collectively, our results suggest that parent-offspring conflict and associated parental benefits explain variation in fledging age among songbird species and why postfledging bottlenecks occur.",
keywords = "Bottleneck | fledging | parent–offspring conflict | postfledging | songbirds",
author = "Jones, {Todd M} and Brawn, {Jeffrey D} and Ausprey, {Ian J} and Vitz, {Andrew C} and Rodewald, {Amanda D} and Raybuck, {Douglas W} and Boves, {Than J} and Fiss, {Cameron J} and McNeil, {Darin J} and Stoleson, {Scott H} and Larkin, {Jeffery L} and Cox, {W Andrew} and Schwarzer, {Amy C} and Horsley, {Noah P} and Trumbo, {Evalynn M} and Ward, {Michael P}",
note = "Funding Information: ACKNOWLEDGMENTS. We thank the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC), the FWC Wildlife Legacy Initiative, US Fish and Wildlife Service, Kennekuk Cove County Park, Middlefork Audubon Society, The Ohio State University Terrestrial Wildlife Laboratory, Columbus Parks and Recreation, Franklin County Metro Parks, The Nature Conservancy, The US Department of Agriculture (USDA) Forest Service Northern Research Station, Arkansas State University Department of Biological Sciences, Indiana University of Pennsylvania, Blooming Grove Hunting and Fishing Club, Easton Anglers Association, Delaware State Forest, and many private landowners provided access to field sites. This research was funded through the Florida State Wildlife Grant program (F14AF00892 [T-35]), Federal Aid in Wildlife Restoration from the Illinois Department of Natural Resources and US Fish and Wildlife Service, the USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture, Hatch Project ILLU-875-963, NSF (DEB-0639429 to A.D.R.), Ohio Division of Wildlife, the Kirtland Bird Club Ohio Avian Project Initiative, Pennsylvania Game Commission and the Arkansas Science and Technology Authority, the US Natural Resources Conservation Service through the Conservation Effects Assessment Project (68-7482-12-502; J.L.L.), Sproul State Forest, Cornell Lab of Ornithology, the Pennsylvania Game Commission, US Army Corps of Engineers, Engineer Research and Development Center, and research grants from the Illinois Ornithological Society, Association of Field Ornithologists, Wilson Ornithological Society, American Ornithological Society, The North American Bluebird Society, and Inland Bird Banding Association. This work would not be possible without the dedicated efforts of R. Chicalo, S. Jeffreys, L. Mengak, J. Brisbane, R. Rhodes, J. Selden, J. Hidalgo, H. Innocent, A. Almond, K. Malachowski, C. Enloe, A. DiGiovanni, N. Suckow, K. Winter, A. Riggs, N. Shah, M. Larrieu, M. Miller, and R. Leeson, L. Kearns, E. Ames, L. Rogers, J. Felix, B. Adams, C. Grimm, S. Rose, R. Zajack, M. Kneitel, A. Petersen, J. Fields, K. Mandrekar, J. Dugovich, D. Shustack, S. Lehnen, E. Boves, E. Hingle, E. Pokrivka, M. Selvin, J. Simon, L. Strong, D. Watts, R. Veasley, J. Smithmyer, A. Mengle, L. Boodoo, A. Marmo, B. Eddinger, C. Campbell-Shall, K. Rogers, F. Rodruigez, J. Geisel, T. Barbee, S. Toner, C. Sayers, E. Moser. S. Hale, M. McGee, C. Waas, C. Polhemus, G. Jukkala, L. Dargis, J. Hahn, K. Collins, T. Mangione, C. Vigneu, K. Ongman, Z. Emery, and S. Freeman.",
year = "2020",
month = dec,
day = "1",
doi = "10.1073/pnas.2008955117",
language = "English (US)",
volume = "117",
pages = "30539--30546",
journal = "Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America",
issn = "0027-8424",
publisher = "National Academy of Sciences",
number = "48",
}