Study shows that rayaditos birds raise chicks even if they are not their biological children

An investigation from the University of Chile discovered that Rayadito de Sol birds carry out collaborative work between mothers and fathers for parenting work, in which they are even able to take care of chicks that are not their children.

Rayadito is an endemic bird of South America with a long -tailed and long tail that has been identified as a monogamous species.In them, it is very common that males and females are accompanied during a whole breeding period, helping both to the construction of the nest, peak, and care and food of chicks.

The study, conducted by the researchers Esteban Botero-Delgadillo and Rodrigo Vásquez and published in the scientific journal Ecology and Evolution, detected the "extra pair paternity", a phenomenon present in a small percentage of socially monogamous birds, and which is generated when insideFrom a nest there are chicks of different parents.

However, this feature would not affect the behavior of the male scratch that shares the territory and nest, unlike other passeriforms - the majority group of birds in the world - that do tend to reduce parental care when nest chickens are not theirBiological children.

The investigation was focused on Rayaditos populations that inhabit the forests of Isla Navarino, in the Magallanes region.The team of scientists and scientists collected data during two reproduction seasons, registering valuable information from a total of 44 couples of Rayaditos, for which they had to install anide houses, and make various observations and types of analysis.

The doctor in evolutionary biology Rodrigo Vásquez explained that "initially we thought that these birds were totally monogamous, but after our studies we saw that the situation was not so".

"In this case, with a small blood sample, the DNA of chickens and adults was extracted, and we could know if the chickens of a nest were complete brothers or medium brothers," he said.

The study identified that of the 206 chickens born and analyzed with 44 nests, only 17 were children "extra couple", which corresponds to 8 percent of the total.And while the index is not high, according to Vásquez, these sporadic ties had not previously identified in these birds.

The researcher at the University of Chile explains that Rayadito's females look on average once a day, putting an egg the next day, a process that can be extended for several days.This is how in one nest, about four to eight chickens can be born.In that same interval, a female can have a rapid encounter with another male with which no more linked.

"In general, we see that parental care in scratches is very equitable between male and female, in all scenarios.Both lead to the chickens in the same quantity.Sometimes, also, it has been seen that the male remains longer with chickens when it carries food, unlike the female, who, however, makes more visits to the nest.It has also been seen that the male transports more flying insects, while the female carries more non -flying invertebrates, such as larvae, "said the scientist.

The researcher estimates that this alliance is not only important to achieve a successful nest and the subsequent independence of chicks."The same nest construction, for example, can help other species, especially invertebrates, such as mites, fleas and ticks, thus contributing to biodiversity.And, in that sense, we know that the more interactions they exist, the more interconnected the ecosystem and its different species, which contributes to greater resilience in the face of phenomena and disturbances of all kinds ".

Polyland would and its benefits in the natures of the study, it is speculated that it would poliand it in nature - phenomenon in which a female looks up with more than one male during the same reproductive season - is a behavior that could be evolutionarily beneficial, because it would increaseThe diversity and genetic quality of offspring.

This situation was also previously studied in Rayaditos populations inhabiting the Fray Jorge Fray.Rodrigo Vásquez was part of this work, and points out that the phenomenon may be due to the fact that in Fray Jorge the forest habitat is more fragmented and, in addition, the populations of these birds are smaller than in Magallanes.Therefore, in this place the scratches would need to find mechanisms to ensure greater genetic variability.

The researcher also estimates that the importance of the study lies in the need to continue increasing the scientific knowledge that is generated from the southern hemisphere on biodiversity, focusing on different species and their interactions with the rest of the nature that lives in these territories.