Yes, father birds do feed their babies in most bird species. The extent to which father birds participate in feeding babies depends on the species. In some species, father birds take equal or even greater responsibility for feeding chicks compared to the mother. But in other species, the father’s role is more limited.
Why Do Birds Feed Their Babies?
Parent birds feed their chicks for the simple reason that baby birds cannot feed themselves. Hatchlings are completely dependent on their parents for food and protection. They do not yet have the ability to fly, forage, or hunt for food on their own. Parent birds collect food and bring it back to the nest to feed the hungry mouths of their chicks. Feeding the young is an instinctive behavior programmed into parent birds by evolution to ensure the survival of their offspring.
Do Both Parents Feed Babies?
In around 90% of bird species, both the male and female parent participate in caring for hatchlings in some way. However, the degree to which the male assists with feeding duties depends on the species. In monogamous species where male and female birds form long-term pair bonds, males often provide nearly equal contributions when it comes to delivering food to chicks. In polygamous species where males mate with multiple females, the male’s contribution is usually lower.
There are a few different patterns of parental care in birds:
- Biparental care: Both parents feed chicks and tend to the nest equally. This is common in passerines (perching birds) such as crows, blue jays, wrens, and chickadees.
- Female-only care: The female performs most or all parental duties, including feeding. The male does not participate. This is common in species like hummingbirds and woodpeckers.
- Male-only care: The male takes sole responsibility for incubating eggs and feeding hatchlings while the female leaves to start a new nest. This occurs in some waterfowl species.
- Cooperative breeding: Other adult birds besides the parents help feed and care for offspring. This occurs in some jays, sparrows, and wrens.
Do All Father Birds Help Feed Babies?
Here is a breakdown of paternal care in some common bird groups:
Songbirds
Most passerine songbirds demonstrate high levels of biparental care. The male helps build the nest, incubate the eggs, brood the chicks, defend the territory, and bring food. Some examples include:
- Chickadees: males bring food to the nest about as often as females.
- Cardinals: males incubate eggs, brood chicks at night, and feed nestlings.
- Sparrows: males and females both feed their young.
Birds of Prey
In most raptors like eagles, hawks, and falcons, only the female incubates the eggs. But the male helps feed and defend the chicks once they’ve hatched. He often passes food to the female, who then feeds it to the young. In ospreys, males and females take turns catching fish to deliver to their offspring.
Waterfowl
Male participation varies greatly in waterfowl. In ducks and geese, males typically do not incubate eggs or brood hatchlings. But they may stand guard or help defend young. In swans and cranes, males do help incubate eggs and feed young. Male wood ducks and phalaropes are unique in that they provide all parental care while females seek new mates.
Cuckoos
Cuckoos demonstrate an unusual breeding strategy where females lay eggs in the nests of other bird species. The foster parents then raise the cuckoo chick as their own. So male cuckoos do not directly feed their own biological offspring, but may help feed the surrogate chicks in a host nest.
Hummingbirds
Hummingbird males are promiscuous and provide essentially no parental care. They do not help incubate eggs or feed hatchlings. The female alone is responsible for nesting duties.
How Do Father Birds Know To Help Feed Babies?
The drive to feed offspring is controlled in part by hormones and the basic instinct to reproduce and pass on genes. When eggs hatch, nestlings beg for food with loud chirping sounds. This chick begging stimulates feeding behavior in parent birds.
Research indicates that prolactin and corticosterone are two hormones particularly involved in regulating parental food provisioning. Prolactin stimulates chick rearing behavior, while corticosterone coordinates energy expenditure and foraging effort.
Studies show that hearing the begging calls of chicks triggers hormonal responses in both male and female parents. The more intense and frequent the begging, the higher the hormone levels, and the more trips parent birds will make to deliver food.
Which Birds Are the Best Fathers?
Some standout examples of attentive father birds include:
- Bald eagles: Male eagles help incubate the eggs, brood the young, feed and protect the chicks, and assist fledglings after they leave the nest.
- Emperor penguins: Males incubate the single egg while females leave to hunt for up to 2 months. Males huddle in large groups balancing the egg on their feet.
- Rheas: Large South American birds related to ostriches where males raise the young alone. Females leave after laying several eggs.
- Seabirds: Male seabirds like albatrosses, gannets, and frigatebirds take long shifts incubating the egg while females hunt. Both parents regurgitate fish to feed the chick.
In terms of percentage of involvement, male wood ducks spend the most time caring for ducklings (about 94% of total parental care) while female wood ducks are the most “hands off” duck moms.
Do Father and Mother Birds Share Duties Equally?
Bird Species | Paternal Care | Maternal Care |
---|---|---|
Chickadees | Equal amounts of feeding | Equal amounts of feeding |
Robins | 33% of feeding trips | 67% of feeding trips |
Red-winged blackbirds | 20% of feeding | 80% of feeding |
Great horned owls | Delivers food to female at nest | Feeds young directly |
Woodpeckers | No feeding | 100% of feeding |
As this table shows, the amount of paternal assistance compared to maternal care varies significantly across bird species. Chickadees demonstrate one of the highest levels of male participation where male and female feed the young equally. Robins and red-winged blackbirds show a moderate paternal contribution. Owls have specialized roles, while in woodpeckers the male provides no direct care.
Do Father Birds Feed Babies Less When They Have Multiple Mates?
Generally yes, father birds tend to invest less in feeding chicks when they have multiple mates and offspring to provide for. When male birds mate with only one female, it is evolutionarily advantageous to provide full paternal care to ensure those few offspring survive. But for promiscuous species, the male has less certainty that he sired a given clutch, so he invests less energy.
One analysis across >200 bird species found that males reduced their feeding rates to approx. one-third of monogamous rates when they had three mates, and to approximately one-fourth with six mates.
Unusual Feeding Adaptations in Father Birds
Some fascinating examples of specialized paternal feeding adaptations include:
- Crop milk: Male doves, flamingoes, and pigeons produce a nutrient-rich milk-like substance in their crop to feed newly hatched chicks.
- Regurgitation: Many wetland birds like herons regurgitate pre-digested food directly into the mouths of offspring.
- Pellet feeding: Male marsh harriers cough up pellets of insect prey items for the female to distribute to young.
These unique strategies allow parent birds to quickly deliver nutrients to hatchlings. The crop milk of flamingoes for example contains protein, fat, and antibodies highly adapted to chick growth requirements.
Conclusion
To summarize, paternal care is common in the bird world, but the specific level of male involvement in feeding hatchlings varies greatly across species. Male participation tends to be highest in monogamous species where the male can be sure he fathered the chicks. But even in promiscuous species, males often contribute to offspring feeding to some degree. This helps demonstrate the deep evolutionary drive of birds to provide biparental care and improve the survival of their young.