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Sexual dimorphism and Parental care: causes of Mortality costs in Birds

Males and females are different physiologically, physically and molecularly even within these species. However, sexual dimorphism has different aspects and constituents depending on the species; it can be hugely emphasized in some cases and of little significance in others. Moreover, bird species have one of the most noticeable sexual selection in the animal kingdom. Sexual selection influences different parts of birds including body size, plumage, wing length, and beak size. Furthermore, based on the physical and physiological components received by each sex, males and females dispatch the tasks of within the bird community. For example, mating competition (territorial occupation, production of viable traits) is left to males while females are mostly in charge of caring eggs and taking care of young once born. These roles portrayed by both males and females come with costs which can often affect their survival. Therefore, there has been a certain relationship between bird mortality and sexual dimorphism and parental care. For example, parental care and certain sexually developed traits were found to increase the number of death in bird populations.

Extreme sexual dimorphism: The Great Bustard

Great Bustard: Male at the front, female at the back

Sexual dimorphism is a very common phenomenon observed in bird species with some sex differences being more extreme than others. These sexual divergences between male and female birds are usually observed in size, plumage color and brightness, wing length and beak size. Great Bustard is one perfect example of extreme sexual dimorphism in birds. Adult males are twice as heavy as females with a male (female ratio between 2.40 and 2.48 depending on the season of the year) with an average weigh of 15 kg. Even though mass is different between male and female bustards the main sexual differences were mostly observed in central toe, tarsus, and tail lengths. For example, in males central toe length was highly correlated with weight, tarsus, head, and both measures of bill length, whereas in females central toe length was correlated with tail length, but clearly not with weight, tarsus, and head lengths. Many factors might cause this extreme sexual dimorphism in these birds; however, researchers think that the reason for these sex differences might have evolved through niche speciation since males and females live in separate flocks year round. Since sexual dimorphism is present in many bird species, it can generate certain advantages to birds but costs can also arise from sex differences.

Mortality due to mating and parental care

Reproduction is an example of a process through which sexual selection can cause differential mortality within certain bird populations. Thus, some birds experiencing sex-biased mortality during mating and parental care. Mating and parental have each different impacts on birds populations, one affecting one sex than the other.

Mortality due to mating

Mating is generally an exhausting process for male birds, since they are involved in competing with other males and developing attractive traits to be chosen by females. However, these traits can be costly and potentially increase mortality rate. For example, large males become heavier and more colorful making them more prone to predation than females. Interestingly, this mortality is mostly observed in juvenile males rather than adult males. Juvenile males have an increased mortality rate during their pre-breeding periods, since during that period they participate in intrasexual competition. Therefore, sexually selected traits developed for mating lead to decreased viability in males. This leads to sex-biased mortality which is positively correlated with both sexual size dimorphism (increased mass, increased wing size) and male brightness. Furthermore, natural selection could lead to sexual dimorphism if males are affected by certain changes within their environment which causes them to develop certain traits. For instance, male house sparrow increase in size, develop a thicker plumage and longer wings during winter. Contrary, females get smaller to decrease their need of energy and survive during the winter. In conclusion, sexual dimorphism can be molded both through sexual selection or natural selection.

Bird mortality and parental care

However, sexually developed traits are not the only factor involved in bird mortality, parental care also leads to disastrous events within certain avian populations. Moreover, parental care appears to have greater costs than mating since the sex left taking care of the baby suffers a higher mortality rate which may outweigh the costs incurred by the sex which competes for mates. Since in most bird species, females are the one who take care of the young until they reach a certain age, thus they experience greater risks and a higher mortality rate. Moreover, parental care is mostly detrimental post-hatching during which females oversee feeding, brooding, and defending offspring. This increases female-biased avian mortalities which are usually due to the higher parental investment by the female than the male: the sex that cares the most suffers the most. Even though males do the greatest investment during mating, females are the most affected during reproductive events due to parental care.

Conclusion

Sexual dimorphism is required in most bird species to develop attractive traits for female choice during mating. Moreover, sexually developed traits can allow better survivor of the bearer after drastic changes within the environment. On the other hand, sexual selection could have costs on the viability on either sex but more so on males. Furthermore, avian mortality can be increased due to parental care through which females are exposed to more danger in trying to care for their young. Definitely, sexual dimorphism and parental care are important factors which influence mortality in birds.