We examined the influence of nestling hunger and the settlement of additional mates on the parental behavior of polygynous male Red-winged Blackbirds (Agelaius phoeniceus).When brood size and nestling age were held constant, the begging behavior of fooddeprived nestlings caused most males to begin provisioning nestlings.Males were not influenced by the presence of additional females settling on the territory.Males that did not respond to nestling hunger had a fertile female mate.In response to satiated nestlings, males stopped provisioning.These results suggest that polygynous male Red-winged Blackbirds may be withholding parental care at one nest in order to protect paternity at another nest.Females increased provisioning to food-deprived nestlings and reduced provisioning to satiated nestlings.Changes in female provisioning rate were associated with changes in foraging habitat and volume of prey delivered to nestlings.
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Whittingham et al. (1993) studied this question.