Parental feeding rate in relation to begging behavior in asynchronously hatched broods of the great tit Parus major: An experimental study.

Four experiments manipulated the stimulus situation encountered by great tits on their feeding visits to the brood in order to explore its effect on feeding rate. Three broods containing 8, 8, and 10 nestlings were studied. A higher feeding rate was observed under the following conditions: (1) after a period of food deprivation, as compared with normal conditions and satiation through artifical feeding; (2) in periods when recorded begging calls were played during feeding visits, as compared with control periods; and (3) after temporary removal from the nest of heavier, as compared with lighter, siblings. The lighter nestlings benefitted more (in terms of weight gain) from the increase in parental feeding rate following the playing of begging calls than did the heavier nestlings. Differences in weight within broods did not affect the amount of food the parents brought. It is concluded that parental feeding rate is affected not simply by the begging of the hungriest nestling but rather by the behavior of all the nestlings, which makes possible an adjustment of the feeding rate to the average hunger level of the brood.