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Ectoparasite burden of Blue‐footed Booby chicks depends on combined parental ages
Author(s) -
Ramos Alejandra G.,
Drummond Hugh
Publication year - 2018
Publication title -
ibis
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.933
H-Index - 80
eISSN - 1474-919X
pISSN - 0019-1019
DOI - 10.1111/ibi.12624
Subject(s) - immunocompetence , offspring , paternal care , biology , zoology , demography , ecology , genetics , pregnancy , immune system , sociology
The probability of Blue‐footed Booby Sula nebouxii fledglings becoming reproductive adults is maximal when one parent is old and the other young, and minimal when both are old or young. No mechanism has been identified to explain this pattern, but here we showed that nestlings with different‐aged parents are the least infested with ticks. This result constitutes preliminary confirmation of the hypothesis that the effect of combined parental ages on probability of recruitment is mediated by offspring immunocompetence. The contribution of immunocompetence and parental care to these parental age effects needs to be unravelled.