Talk:Allofeeding

Hi, My name is Leah Curnew. I will be editing this article for my Biology 3750 (Animal Behaviour I) class at Memorial University. Below are the edits I plan to make to this article. I look forwarding to hearing your thoughts.

Please note the draft structure is as follows:

The structure of this draft (article) will be of an upside down triangle and heads/subheads will be used in the article. It will start with a broad overview of allofeeding (Introductory paragraph), followed by multipliable paragraphs, which will cover examples allofeeding between mates, peer allofeeding and allofeeding during conditions of environmental stress that ties this behaviour to survival and fitness.

*** Note that this structure will change as research continues ***

Draft:

Allofeeding (heading 1- Introduction)

• In this section, I will improve the definition of allofeeding. I will include some basic facts about allofeeding, such as the taxonomic groups it is found in, like birds (Smith, 1980) and the different kinds of allofeeding (eg. peer, during conditions of environmental stress, between mates, between parent and non-biological offspring).
• In this section, I will discuss allofeeding in relation to altruism.
• I also plan to summarize the main points from heading 2,3 and 4.

Allofeeding between Mates (heading 2)

• For this section, I will talk about the behaviour of allofeeding between mates.
• In this section, I will explain the behaviour of allofeeding between mates during egg incubation and how this is beneficial (reduced predation and energetic stress of mates) to the fitness of the species using the paper by Halley et al., 2015. I will also discuss the cost of allofeeding between mates.
• In this section, I will also explain the behaviour of allofeeding between mates during copulation and how this is beneficial for the female, mate bonding, and offspring survival in relation to the fitness of the species using the paper by Smith, 1980.

Peer Allofeeding (heading 3)

• In this section, I will also explain the behaviour of peer allofeeding and how it contributes to the survival of siblings and how this is beneficial for the fitness of the species using the paper by Carlisle, 1986.

Allofeeding and Environmental Stress (heading 4)

• For this section, I will talk about the behaviour of allofeeding during conditions of environmental stress (eg. winter).
• In this section, I will explain the behaviour of allofeeding during the winter in response to a low parental survival rate and how this is beneficial (increased survival of young) to the fitness using the paper by Jouventin et al., 1994 and Lecomte et al., 2006. I will also discuss the cost of allofeeding on parents and their offspring.

References (likely to be used):

1. Carlisle, T. R., and Zahavi, A. (1986). Helping at the nest, allofeeding and social status in immature arabian babblers. Behavioural Ecology Sociobiology, 18, 339-351.
2. Halley, M. R., Holmes, A. L., and Robinson, W. D. (2015). Biparental incubation and allofeeding at nests of Sagebrush Brewer's Sparrows. Journal of Field Ornithology, 86(2), 153-162.
3. Jouventin, P., Barbraud, C., and Rubin, M. (1995). Adoption in the emperor penguin, Aptenodytes fivsteri. Animal Behaviour, 50, 1023-1029.
4. Lecomte, N., Kuntz, G., Lambert, N., Gendner, J., Handrich, Y.,  Le Maho, Y., and Bost, C. (2006) Alloparental feeding in the king penguin. Animal Behaviour, 71, 457–462.
5. Senar, J. C. (1984). Allofeeding in Eurasian Siskins (Carduelis spinus). American Ornithological Society, 86(2), 213-214.
6. Smith, S. M. (1980). Demand Behavior: A New Interpretation of Courtship Feeding. American Ornithological Society, 82(3), 291-295.