Meeting Abstract
The degree of parental behavior varies not only between species, but also among populations and individuals within species. The causes of variation in parental behavior within species are not fully understood. Additionally, relatively few studies have attempted to quantify within individual variation in parental behavior. Here, we used repeated presentation of a model of a nest predator (black-rat snake) to individual Tree Swallows (Tachycineta bicolor), to quantify among and within individual variation in nest defense. We then assessed relationships between intensity of nest defense behavior and measures of body condition and reproductive investment (e.g., clutch size, provisioning rate) to determine factors that might predict individual variation in this parental behavior. Additionally, we look at repeatability of nest defense behavior within individuals to determine if this behavior is part of a stable behavioral phenotype, at least within the period of care of offspring. Our findings have implications for the effectiveness of using a single sample period of parental behavior to describe an individual’s behavioral phenotype, in addition to understanding the sources of within-species variation in parental behavior.
