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OBJECTIVE: Physical activity (PA) has a profound impact on health and development in children. Parental behaviors (i.e., modeling and support) represent an obvious important factor in child PA. The purpose of this paper was to provide a comprehensive meta-analysis that overcomes the limitations of prior narrative reviews and quantitative reviews with small samples. METHODS: Ten major databases were used in the literature search. One-hundred and fifteen studies passed the eligibility criteria. Both fixed and random effects models with correction for sampling and measurement error were examined in the analysis. Moderator analyses investigating the effects of child’s developmental age, study design, parental gender, measurement of child PA, and quality rating were performed. RESULTS: Based on the random effects model, the results showed that parental modeling was weakly associated with child PA (summary r = .16, 95% CI .09-.24) and none of the proposed moderators were significant. Separate analyses examining the moderating effects of parental gender and boys’ PA found that that father-son PA modeling (r = .29, 95% CI .21-.36) was significantly higher compared to mother-son PA (r = .19, 95% CI .14-.23; p < .05). However, parental gender did not moderate the relationship between parental modeling and girls’ PA (p > .05). The random effects model indicated an overall moderate effect size for the parental support and child PA relationship (summary r = .38, 95% CI .30-.46). Here, the only significant moderating variable was the measurement of child PA (objective: r = .20, 95% CI .13-.26; reported: r = .46, 95% CI .37-.55; p < .01). CONCLUSIONS: Parental support and modeling relate to child PA, yet our results revealed a significant degree of heterogeneity among the studies that could not be explained well by our proposed moderators.

We quantified patterns of male and female parental care of the Swallow Tanager (Tersina viridis) in the activities of nest building, incubation, and feeding of nestlings during 4 reproductive seasons in Morrinhos, Goias. The first individuals arrived in late June and the last individuals departed at the end of November, but incubation and feeding of nestlings occurred primarily in September and October, respectively. Males did not participate in incubation, but they contributed to nest building (24%) and feeding nestlings (55%; n = 8 nests). The results demonstrate biparental care and a socially monogamous breeding system for Swallow Tanager; however, low male involvement in total parental care, especially in incubation, and marked sexual dichromatism suggest the occurrence of extra-pair fertilization (EPF). Received 22 April 2017. Accepted 27 December 2017. Key words: breeding season, breeding systems, feeding, incubation, nestlings. Nos quantificamos os padroes de cuidado parental de machos e fomeas de Sao-Andorinha nas atividades de construooo do ninho, incubaooo e alimentaooo dos ninhegos durante quatro estaooes reprodutivas em Morrinhos, Goios. Os primeiros individuos chegaram no final de junho e os oltimos indivoduos partiram no final de novembro, mas a incubaooo e a alimentaooo dos filhotes ocorreram principalmente em setembro e outubro. respectivamente. Os machos noo participaram da incubaooo, mas contribuoram na construooo de ninhos (24%) e alimentaooo dos ninhegos (55%) (n = 8 ninhos). Os rcsultados demonstram cuidado biparental e um sistema de reproduooo socialmcnte monogomico para Sao-Andorinha. No cntanto, o baixo envolvimento dos machos no cuidado parental, especialmente na incubaooo, e o acentuado dicromatismo sexual sugcrcm a ocorroncia de fertilizaooo extra-par. Palavras-chave: alimentaooo, incubaooo, ninhegos, pcroodo de reproduooo, sistemas de reproduooo.

Breeding seabirds must balance the energetic demands of feeding themselves and their offspring while coping with the constraints imposed by central-place foraging. As such, foraging strategies and parental care patterns are usually linked. Here, the foraging behavior of the Red-billed Tropicbird ( Phaethon aethereus ; n = 161) of Peña Blanca Islet, Mexico (19° 06ʹ 11ʺ N, 104° 29ʹ 12ʺ W) during the incubation and chick-rearing (≤ 4 weeks of age) stages was characterized with the aid of GPS loggers. Blood samples from adults and chicks were collected to determine δ 15 N and δ 13 C, and parental presence at the nest, meal size, and parent-chick feeding events were recorded. During incubation, parents made long trips offshore to areas far from the colony; however, immediately after their chicks hatched, the parents switched to a bimodal foraging strategy by undertaking both short and long foraging trips. The δ 15 N values indicated that trophic differences were present between parents and their offspring, with chicks being fed prey enriched in 15 N. Parental presence at the nest was greater during early chick-rearing, which was associated with a higher provisioning rate. Parents adopted a strategy in which the parent on nest duty only made short foraging trips to provide for its offspring without leaving it unattended for long periods, while its mate undertook long trips to feed itself. After the early chick-rearing period, the parents gradually reduced the time spent at the nest and increased the time spent foraging, compensating with larger meal sizes for their offspring. Graphical abstract

We report on the breeding biology of the Sabota Lark (Calendulauda sabota), a widespread and common but poorly known species. We present the results of data collected at 57 nests over 2 breeding seasons (2011-2013). Breeding coincided with the peak of the wet season in the study area and the breeding season appeared to be shorter in the study area compared to the rest of the species' range. Only females were observed constructing nests and laying and incubating started before the nest was completed, a strategy to reduce the overall nesting time. Nest quality varied considerably, including in the presence or absence of a dome and an apron. The mean clutch size was 2.5 [+ or -] 0.5 with incubation commencing upon clutch completion, performed by the female only and lasting 12.3 [+ or -] 0.5 d. Mean nest attendance during incubation was 74% and there was a steady increase in the duration of incubation on-bouts with progression of the incubation period. The mean nestling period lasted 11.7 d with both parents delivering food and both sexes performing brooding duties, a seemingly unique feature in the mirafrid clade of larks. There was evidence of subtle sex-specific roles during the nestling period with females primarily being responsible for brooding and males mainly provisioning. Breeding success using Mayfield's estimator was 33% with predation being the main cause of nest failure. Given the relatively poor breeding success, replacement broods were common but repeat-brooding attempts in a single season were rare with only 2 records during the course of this study. Although many of the reproductive features of Sabota Lark were similar to those of other larks, there were some differences and some apparently unique features that contribute to our knowledge of the Alaudidae. Received 24 July 2018. Accepted 11 October 2018.

Alloparenting refers to any type of parental care provided by an individual to non-descendant offspring. Alloparenting is not merely an altruistic behavior; it confers benefits to both care receivers and caregivers. Here, we report 3 cases where 3 adult Great Tits (Parus major) simultaneously provided food to chicks in the same nest boxes during the breeding season of 2019. All 3 cases were found in nest boxes where parent removal experiments were carried out. In our 3 d experiments, one of the parenting adults was temporarily removed from the nest box early on the second day and was back on its nest box at the end of that same day. In 2 of the nest boxes, the 3-adult brood-feeding started upon removing one of the brooding parents and continued on day 3, after the removed adult was returned. In one case, an alloparent was recorded feeding chicks alongside a parent since day 1 and continued feeding chicks on day 2. Our reports are the first documented examples of Great Tits involving a third adult in brooding. It presents an interesting finding for a well-studied bird species and may provide possibilities for in-depth research.

Animal space-use patterns can vary widely with age, sex, and stage of the annual cycle, but the factors that drive pattern shifts are poorly understood. Here, we provide preliminary evidence that mating strategy (i.e., polygamy) influences movements of parents attending recently fledged young. We monitored the space use during the post-Hedging period for Vermivora spp. broods led by a male and female with a split brood in 2014 and the same male with 2 fledglings in 2015. We observed context- and sex-specific space-use patterns that seemed to be driven by the male's attention to a secondary polygamous nest in 2014. When attending his secondary nest, the male restricted his primary brood's movements to within the nesting habitat close to his secondary nest until the nest failed. This pattern was distinct from movements of both the 2014 female and the same male in 2015 when he lacked a secondary nest. These observations may explain some reports from other studies that female-led broods disperse farther than male-led broods. Future work should explicitly consider the potential impacts of facultative polygamy on post-fledging space use, especially in species traditionally considered monogamous. Received 20 November 2017. Accepted 14 September 2018.

Begging by nestling passerines is an important way to communicate their state of hunger to parents. We examined whether experimentally increased nestling begging vocalizations can quickly alter parental provisioning rates in European Starlings (Sturnus vulgaris). We predicted that an increase in begging volume heard by parents during the experimental treatment would result in a significantly higher number of provisioning visits compared to the pre-playback control of natural begging levels. Total number of parental provisioning visits during 1 h control and experimental trials were compared for 23 broods of 14-day-old nestlings. Begging calls of each brood were recorded when nestlings were 13 days old; the loudest calls from each brood were made into a 3 min loop and projected continuously the next day during the experimental trial. As predicted, parents provisioned at a significantly higher rate during the experimental trials than the control trials. European starlings are sensitive to begging calls made by their offspring and respond quickly to any changes in their begging vocalizations. Received 26 April 2017. Accepted 26 July 2017. Key words: begging playback, European Starling, flexible parental response, increased provisioning, nestling vocalizations, parent-offspring communication. Le piaillement d'oisillons passereaux est un moyen important pour communiquer leur etat de faim aux parents. Nous examinames si l'augmentation experimentale du nombre de piaillements des oisillons peut rapidement modifier le taux d'approvisionnement alimentaire des parents chez les Etourneaux Sansonnet (Sturnus vulgaris). Nous predimes qu'une augmentation de la quantite de piaillements entendue par les parents au cours du traitement experimental se traduirait par un nombre significativement plus eleve de visites d'approvisionnement des parents par rapport au temoin des niveaux naturels (et non modifies) de piaillements. Nous comparames le total de visites d'approvisionnement des parents pendant les essais (temoins et experimentaux ; une duree d'une heure chacun) pour 23 nichees d'oisillons a l'age de 14 jours. Le piaillement d'oisillons de chaque nichee fut enregistre lorsque les oisillons avaient 13 jours ; les cris les plus forts de chaque nichee furent faits en une boucle acoustique (une duree repetee de 3 minutes) et diffuses continuellement le jour suivant pendant l'essai experimental. Comme prevu, les parents approvisionnerent a un taux significativement plus eleve pendant les essais experimentaux que les essais temoins. Les Etourneaux Sansonnet sont sensibles au piaillement de leurs oisillons et ils reagissent rapidement a tous changements de leurs vocalisations. Mots cles: communication parents-jeunes, enregistrement de piaillement, Etourneaux Sansonnet, piaillement d'oisillons, provisionnement augmente, reponse parentale flexible.

As a result of a warming global climate, understanding how organisms adjust their behaviour to environmental thermal conditions has become an increasingly important question in animal biology. Temperature‐driven adjustments in parental care are potentially important given the repercussions on offspring size, quality and survival. In 2015 and 2016 we monitored parental care for 83 zebra finch Taeniopygia castanotis breeding attempts in the wild with known brood sizes. We recorded the frequency of parental visits to the nest together with mean maximum ambient temperature experienced between day 7 and 14 of the nestling period. We found that for each increase of 1°C in the daytime temperature there was a 0.91% reduction in the hourly rate of parental visits, whilst also accounting for other variables such as nestling age, time of season, and wind speed. Our data suggest that nestlings may receive less food under thermally challenging conditions, which is consistent with recent studies that demonstrate offspring are smaller when reared during periods of high temperature. Understanding the behavioural drivers that may contribute to the production of smaller offspring in extreme heat conditions could prove useful to forecast long‐term consequences for fitness triggered by climate change.

Beak abnormalities have been reported in a wide range of species but typically affect only a small portion (< 1 %) of wild bird populations. Most research has focused on the prevalence, morphology, and causes of beak deformities, resulting in relatively little information on the consequences of these deformities for individual birds. Birds with abnormal beaks likely struggle to feed themselves, a situation that can only be exacerbated during the breeding season when they must provide food for not only themselves but also their offspring. We captured a female House Wren (Troglodytes aedon) with abnormal mandibles during the 2016 breeding season. The female was lighter and smaller than normal, and her clutch size smaller and incubation and nestling periods slightly longer than normal. Using video recordings at the nest, we found that early in the nestling period the female's provisioning rate was lower and her time spent brooding greater than normal, yet she succeeded in rearing a brood, albeit smaller in number than average. We conclude that the female's abnormal beak was a severe handicap negatively affecting both her condition and her provisioning ability; however, it did not preclude her from raising a brood of nestlings. Received 13 December 2017. Accepted 3 October 2018.

We provide a detailed breeding biology account for the Grey-breasted Wood-Wren (Henicorhina leucophrys) and a comparison of the reproductive life history of tropical and temperate wrens using literature data. We conducted this study at Yacambu National Park in Venezuela from 2002 to 2008. Clutch size was 1.99 (SE 0.01) and fresh egg mass was 2.35 g (0.02). Females incubated the eggs for 19.74 d (0.37), and nestlings left nests at 17.37 d (0.18). Nest attentiveness (percent time spent on the nest) increased across the incubation period while brooding attentiveness decreased as nestlings aged. Brooding effort began with similar attentiveness as at the end of incubation. Food provisioning rate and feeding rate per nestling increased as nestlings aged. Growth rates (K) based on mass, tarsus, and wing chord were relatively slow at 0.375, 0.246, and 0.257, respectively. The nesting season extended from mid-March to late June for 7 years and the average nesting season length was 64.5 d (3.68) with a median of May 4. Nest success was 22%. Nest predation was the cause of 77% of nest failures with a total daily predation rate of 0.030 (0.002). Results obtained from the literature demonstrated that tropical wrens averaged smaller clutch sizes and longer incubation periods than relatives in the temperate region. Received 17 October 2017. Accepted 9 November 2018.