FLEDGLING CARE AND MALE PARENTAL EFFORT IN THE HOODED WARBLER (WILSONIA-CITRINA)

We followed family groups of Hooded Warblers (Wilsonia citrina) from h atching through to fledgling independence to determine (i) the duratio n and extent of parental care of fledglings, (ii) the extent of brood division, and (iii) whether male parental effort in caring for nestlin gs predicts male effort in caring for fledglings. The 9-day nestling p eriod of Hooded Warblers was followed by 4-6 weeks of further parental fare of fledged young. Parental feeding rates increased from hatching to when the young fledged from the nest and males fed nestlings signi ficantly more than females did. At the fledgling stage feeding rates t o fledglings were significantly higher than at the nestling stage, but there was no difference in feeding rates between the parents. Parents usually divided the brood of fledglings equally, so that each parent assumed full and exclusive care of a subset of the brood. However, man y females (45%) initiated a second brood and the male assumed care of the entire first brood at the lime when his mate began incubating. The proportion of feeding trips to nestlings made by the male was not pre dictive of his subsequent effort in the care of fledglings. Exclusion of the fledgling care period in studies of parental investment may giv e a biased picture of overall investment on the part of both male and female parents.