Biparental care can be easier than being a single parent. But the workload is still massive. In the bird groups that show delayed dispersal, there is a helper male that assists the actual breeding male to protect the territory. For the caring the young, the actual parents will take care of it. But to reduce the stress of protecting the territory while feeding the young, birds such as Siberian Jays learned to have a helper male that did not breed in that year to help them to watch the territory from being attacked. This is a method that did become advantageous allowing the population to survive better. The birds that follow this strategy also show replacement in partners too. If the breeding male dies during the breeding season, there are cases the helping male becomes the new father for the nestlings so they will continue to have biparental care.
Recent comments