Brood desertion and polygamous breeding in the Kentish Plover Charadrius alexandrinus

• Published in: Ibis (London, England) England), 1999-10, Vol.141 (4), p.596-607
• Main Authors: Amat, Juan A., Fraga, Rosendo M., Arroyo, Gonzalo M.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Animal ethology; Aves; Biological and medical sciences; Charadrius alexandrinus; Freshwater; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry; Spain; Vertebrata
• ISSN: 0019-1019; 1474-919X
• DOI: 10.1111/j.1474-919X.1999.tb07367.x

In the Kentish Plover Charadrius alexandrinus one of the adults, typically the female, deserts the brood when the chicks are a few days old. Once parental care is terminated, adults may initiate a second nesting attempt if sufficient time remains within the season. For these nests, individuals pair with different mates from those of the first nesting attempt, thus becoming sequentially polygamous. In a small population of Kentish Plovers in Fuente de Piedra lake (southern Spain), the duration of biparental care of broods was longer than in other localities. It also showed considerable variation between years that was evidently related to Gull‐billed Tern Gelochelidon nilotica predation pressure on the chicks. There was year‐to‐year variation in the number of polygamous matings. Both the duration of the breeding season and nesting success in the first half of the season limited the occurrence of polygamy. Despite females deserting broods earlier than males, the interval between the first and second nesting of polyandrous females and polygynous males was similar. The interval was not affected by the body condition of females after the first nesting attempt, nor by problems related to egg formation ability, but was probably due to the availability of potential mates. More females than males initiated second nests, suggesting that polygamous opportunities were more limited for males than for females. In terms of delayed breeding, reduced survivorship or reduced breeding opportunities in years following polygamous breeding, polygamous individuals did not have greater costs than non‐polygamous ones. Females with second nests did not seem to be selective in mate choice, mating with any available male. Mates for second nests may therefore be of lower quality than those for first nests, as judged by male plumage characteristics. Clutch sizes and egg characteristics of polyandrous females were similar in first and second nests. Nest success of second nests was only 40% of that of first ones, with nest desertion accounting for 60% of the losses. As the costs of polygamy are apparently low and as breeding success is very variable among years, polygamous breeding of the long‐lived Kentish Plover may be an important breeding strategy with which to increase individual lifetime reproductive success.