First Reported Case of Classical Polyandry in a North American Woodpecker, the Northern Flicker

3 Pages·2002·2.2 MB·English

by  Karen L Wiebe

Short Communications
Wilson Bull., 114(3), 2002, pp. 401-403
First Reported Case of Classical Polyandry in a North American
Woodpecker, the Northern Flicker
Karen L. Wiebe*
—
ABSTRACT. During a study ofNorthern Flickers which typically is monogamous (Moore
(Colaptesaiiratus) nesting incentral BritishColumbia, 1995).
4I4d7ismcovaeparretd.aThpeolpyhaenndorloousgyfeatmatlhee tatwtoenndeisntgstwwaosnsetsatgs- I studied Northern Flickers during 1998-
gered so that the female took incubation shifts and fed 2001 at Riske Creek, British Columbia, Can-
nestlings at both trees. Hatching success was typical ada (51° 52' N, 122° 21' W). For details ofthe
but the female appeared to divide her provisioning ef- study area see Wiebe (2000, 2001) and Martin
fort between the broods. At one nest, only about 20% and Eadie (1999). Each year, reproduction at
ofvisits were by thefemale, comparedtoatypicalrate 80-90 nests was monitored closely and >95%
of50%. Polyandrous matingbenefitedthefemale,who
of adults on the site were color banded for
tfhleedogtehdera.llTshiex mneesatnlinngusmibneronoefbfrloeodgdlianngdsaflolrsmeovnenogi-n individual identification. Two bands were
amous females in this population was 5.9. Two other placed on each leg and an individual bird was
cases of polyandry possibly related to human distur- known by four letters standing for its color
bance are discussed. These results suggest exceptions combination. Trapping methods and details
totheideathat, inPicidae, thefull contributionofboth about reproduction and morphology are in
genders during incubation and brood rearing is re- Wiebe and Swift (2001) and Wiebe and Bor-
quired to fledge young. Received 1 October2001, ac-
cepted5 June 2002. tolotti (2001).
I discovered the case of polyandry when
female RAGG, known to have incubated at
Nest A with male AGKG, was recorded on
Classical polyandry is a mating system in
videotape on 14 June performing incubation
twmiahalillecyhdourarissniignmgullaetabfnreeemoeaudslilenygmwasiteteahssomneoirtwheheirltehsaenmqauolenenes- dmuatlieesBaAtKNGest(EiBg.(14).47Thme ffirrsotmneNsetsitngAa)ttweimtpht
BAKG
mate with no more than one female. In addi- of male that season had been at Nest
tion, each male has his own nest and cares for C and had failed about 28 May after he was
his own young (Oring 1982, 1986; Ligon evicted by European Starlings {Sturnus vul-
1993). Bird species practicing classical poly- garis). His original mate, female BAKY, was
RAGG
andry are rare, most examples being within not seen again and he renested with
the order Charadriiformes (Ligon 1993). Most who laid her first egg at Nest B on 4 June
RAGG
woodpeckers, family Picidae, are socially mo- (Eig. 1). While laying eggs in Nest B,
nogamous (Short 1982, Cramp 1985) although continued daytime incubation shifts at Nest A.
2 of the 22 North American woodpecker spe- Chicks at Nest A hatched on 8 June and
cies have unusual mating systems: cooperative RAGG then spent most ofher time incubating
breeding in the Red-cockaded Woodpecker at Nest B until the chicks there hatched on 20
RAGG
{Picaides borealis) and Acorn Woodpecker June. Between 20 June and 2 July, fed
(Melanerpesformicivorus), and also polygyn- chicks at both nests but accounted for only 2
andry in Acorn Woodpeckers (Ligon 1970, of 12 feeding visits at Nest A (8 h of obser-
Walters et al. 1988, Koenig et al. 1998). Here vation over 3 days). At Nest B during one day
I report a case of classical polyandry in the (14 h) of filming, she fed the chicks on 6 of
Northern Flicker {Colaptes auratus), a species 23 visits. All six chicks that hatched at Nest
A fledged on 5 July and all seven chicks
fledged from Nest B on 14 July.
‘ Dept, of Biology, Univ. of Saskatchewan, Saska-
toon, SK S7N 5E2, Canada; E-mail: Classical polyandry is rare in Northern
[email protected] Elickers. With intensive nest monitoring and
401
402 THE WILSON BULLETIN • Vol. 114, No. 3, September2002
RAGG seen incubating RAGG feeds chicks
1 i
A
laying
o B
RAGG feeds chicks
C laying
Nest destroyed by starling, male renests at Nest B
16 20 24 28 1 5 9 13 17 21 25 29
May June
FIG. 1. Reproductive phenology ofthree Northern Flicker nests during 2001 at Riske Creek, BritishColum-
bia. Polyandrous female RAGG attended two nests at Nest A and Nest B and paired with two males. Hersecond
nest, at Nest B, was the renesting attempt of the male originally from Nest C.
color banding, I should be efficient at detect- nor) out of 68 breeding attempts over six
ing polygynous relationships, but have uncov- years, and those were associated with a sex
ered only this one “spontaneous” case among bias toward males in the population. Noctur-
352 nesting attempts monitored during four nal incubation by only males within Picidae
years. Two other cases involved females that may predispose woodpeckers to polyandry,
abandoned their mates during incubation and but Ligon (1999) suggested that the evolution
renested with a neighboring male. However, of such a mating system was constrained be-
these two females may have abandoned as a cause both members of a woodpecker pair
result of being trapped at the nest; they did were necessary during incubation and provi-
not continue to attend chicks at their hrst nests sioning to fledge young. This may be the case
although their first males successfully fledged generally, although in two cases at Riske
a small portion ofthe brood alone. In contrast, Creek, male flickers that were abandoned by
female RAGG was banded in 2000 and was their mates during late incubation successfully
not retrapped in 2001 until after initiating a raised young alone. The case of spontaneous
polyandrous relationship; therefore, human polyandry I observed was advantageous for
disturbance was not a proximate cause. the female flicker, which fledged 13 young
There are only a few reports of polyandry compared to a mean of5.9 in the general pop-
in other woodpeckers. Willimont et al. (1991) ulation in = 227 including only broods where
KLW
and Kotaka (1998) each observed one case in some nestlings hatched; unpubl. data).
the West Indian Woodpecker {Melanerpes su- Both sexes typically feed nestlings at similar
perciliciris) and the Great Spotted Woodpeck- rates (Wiebe and Elchuk in press), but in this
er {Demirocopos major), respectively. Wik- case the males apparently compensated forre-
tander et al. (2000) reported five polyandrous duced provisioning by the polyandrous female
female Lesser Spotted Woodpeckers (D. mi- at both nests because no nestlings starved.
SHORT COMMUNICATIONS 403
A number of proximate factors may pro- Spotted Woodpecker Dendrocopos major. Ibis
mote polyandry in woodpeckers. The skewed 140:335-336.
population sex ratio observed by Wiktander et Ligon, j. D. 1970. Behavior and breeding biology of
the Red-cockaded Woodpecker. Auk 87:255-278.
al. (2000) was not apparent at Riske Creek, Ligon, J. D. 1993. The role ofphylogenetic history in
but breeding densities were high: 13 other the evolution of contemporary avian mating sys-
flicker pairs nested within 1.2 km ofthe poly- tems. Curr. Ornithol. 10:1-46.
androus group. Female RAGG was two years Ligon, J. D. 1999. The evolution of avian breeding
old according to molt criteria in Pyle et al. systems. Oxford Univ. Press, New York.
(1997) and her first male at Nest A was six Martin, K. andJ. M. Eadie. 1999. Nest webs: acom-
years old. Since flickers typically mate with munity-wide approach to the management and
individuals in their own age class (KLW un- Eccoonls.erMvaatniaogne.of11c5a:v2i4ty3--n2e5s7t.ing forest birds. For.
RAGG
publ. data), it is unlikely that initiated Moore, W. L. 1995. Northern Flicker (Colaptes au-
a second nest with BAKG, a yearling male, ratus). No. 166 in The birdsofNorth America(A.
because of his quality or experience. It is un- Poole and F. Gill, Eds.). Academy ofNatural Sci-
certain whether BAKG knew the reproductive ences, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and the Amer-
status offemale RAGG when he renested with ican Ornithologists’ Union, Washington, D.C.
Oring, L. W. 1982. Avian mating systems. Pp. 1-92
her, or whether he was duped; the motivation in Avian biology. Vol. 6 (J. R. King and K. C.
to renest quickly may be great given the short Parkes, Eds.). Academic Press, New York.
summers at this relatively high latitude. Since Oring, L. W. 1986. Avian polyandry. Curr. Ornithol.
home ranges of flickers overlap extensively 3:309-351.
(Elchuk and Wiebe 2002), it is almost certain Pyle, P, S. N. G. Howell, D. E DeSante, R. P. Yu-
the two males were aware of each other and NiCK, AND M. Gustafson. 1997. Identification
nest sites in the area. Regardless, the timing gduaiedteotPoloNcoeritdhae.AmSelratiecaCnrebeikrdsP.resPsa,rtBoI.liCnoals,umCbail--
of the two nests was staggered sufficiently so ifornia.
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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS cockaded Woodpecker. Ethology 78:275-305.
Wiebe, K. L. 2000. Assortative mating by colorwithin
I thank C. Elchuk and numerous undergraduate as- a population of hybrid Northern Flickers. Auk
sistants over the years for assistance in fieldwork, and 117:525-529.
I thank J. A. Jackson and L. Oring for thoughtful re- Wiebe, K. L. 2001. Microclimate oftree cavity nests:
views of the manuscript. The flicker project is sup- is it important for reproductive success in North-
ported by NSERC research grant 770953. ern Flickers? Auk 118:412-421.
Wiebe, K. L. and G. R. Bortolotti. 2001. Variation
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