Helper contributions to anti-parasite behavior in the cooperatively breeding bell miner

Title
Helper contributions to anti-parasite behavior in the cooperatively breeding bell miner
Publication Date
2008
Author(s)
Pacheco, M L
McDonald, Paul
( author )
OrcID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9541-3304
Email: pmcdon21@une.edu.au
UNE Id une-id:pmcdon21
Wright, J
Kazem, Anahita J N
Clarke, M F
Type of document
Journal Article
Language
en
Entity Type
Publication
Publisher
Oxford University Press
Place of publication
United Kingdom
DOI
10.1093/beheco/arm163
UNE publication id
une:8142
Abstract
Cooperatively breeding bell miners ('Manorina melanophrys') have numerous male helpers assisting at multiple nests. Helpers are often related to the brood they aid, consistent with kin selection. However, there are also unrelated helpers for which other direct fitness benefits are likely to accrue. Bell miner nestlings can become infested by the larvae of a parasitic fly ('Passeromyia indecora'), which reduce growth and can be fatal. We investigated the amount of time that breeding pairs and helpers closely inspected nests and preened nestlings, behaviors apparently directed at detecting and removing parasites, a form of helping previously unstudied in a cooperative bird. Female breeders provided the greatest antiparasite effort, with breeding males and helpers not differing in effort regardless of their relatedness to the breeding female or brood. We also experimentally infested nests with nonparasitic flies and larvae. All individuals removed the introduced "parasites" if and when they encountered them. Compared with control sessions, inspection effort increased for all birds immediately after the experimental infestations, but only for a short, 5-min period. Further, we detected no changes in helper antiparasite behaviors after the temporary experimental removal of either breeding females or males. Such consistent helping behavior, independent of relatedness and potential audience effects, suggests that antiparasite behavior in bell miners is not particularly kin directed or operating as a signal of helper quality. Our results instead suggest that helper antiparasite effort appears to represent adaptive investment in the welfare of the brood, consistent with direct fitness benefits from group augmentation.
Link
Citation
Behavioral Ecology, 19(3), p. 558-566
ISSN
1465-7279
1045-2249
Start page
558
End page
566

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