Parental care in the Vermilion Flycatcher (Pyrocephalus rubinus): relative contribution of male and female

Abstract

Biparental care is common in birds, and is generally associated with monogamy and sexual monomorphism. The Vermilion Flycatcher, Phyrocephalus rubinus, is a socially monogamous species but it is sexually dimorphic in coloration. The aim of this work was to analyze sexual differences in biparental care during the incubation and chick feeding periods. We estimated the relative contribution of each sex to nest attention, incubation, and chicks brooding and feeding from video records of seven nests (three in incubation, two with small chicks and two with large chicks). The female, who had longer and more frequent nest visits than the male, performed nest attention during incubation almost exclusively. During the period with small chicks (days 1-4), the female assigned an important proportion of its time to brooding while the male fed his mate who frequently redistributed food between chicks. During the period of large chicks (days 8-12), the number of feeding visits of the female increased to values similar to males ones. Our results indicate that although this species show biparental care, there is an asymmetry in parental activities, with females spending more time at the nest than males.