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RESEARCH ARTICLE
Contents Vol 55(4)

Breeding behaviour and ecology of the grey fantail (Rhipidura albiscapa)

Kat Munro
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Department of Zoology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, CB2 3EJ, UK. Present address: Department of Botany and Zoology, Australian National University, ACT 2602, Australia. Email: kat_munro@hotmail.com

Australian Journal of Zoology 55(4) 257-265 https://doi.org/10.1071/ZO07025
Submitted: 2 May 2007  Accepted: 10 July 2007   Published: 24 September 2007

Abstract

The grey fantail (Rhipidura albiscapa) is a common Australian flycatcher, yet no detailed reports have been made of its breeding ecology. A population of grey fantails was studied over four seasons in the Australian Capital Territory. Males had large testes and pronounced cloacal protuberances, morphology suggestive of sperm competition. Although two polyandrous trios were observed, most individuals bred as part of a season-long monogamous pair, suggesting that extra-pair copulation may be the principal cause of sperm competition. Indeed, behavioural observations revealed that males regularly intruded other territories, targeting those with building, rather than incubating, females. Intruding males were observed harassing, attempting to copulate and successfully copulating with resident females. Males did not mate guard, but regularly attacked their mates during each building attempt. Despite the probability that extra-pair paternity is common in this species, grey fantails were monomorphic and monochromatic, with a high level of paternal care. Nest depredation was common, with 83% of all clutches depredated before fledging. High levels of male care in care in this species may be better explained by an increase in fledging success associated with high male contribution to offspring care than confidence of paternity.


Acknowledgements

Thank you to Ellen Partington, Megan Dickens, Nev Broadis, Rachel Gylee, Beth Woodward, Oded Berger-Tal and Reut Berger-Tal for collecting field data. Becky Kilner provided invaluable support and advice throughout the study. Andrew Cockburn inspired the project and provided support throughout. Naomi Langmore, Becky Kilner and two anonymous referees provided helpful advice on the manuscript. Data on testes size were provided by the Australian National Wildlife Collection (ANWC), CSIRO, Canberra (R. Palmer, L. Joseph). The Australian Defence Force and Environment ACT granted access to the study site. The work was carried out under licence from the Australian Bird and Bat Banding Scheme and Environment ACT and with the approval of the Australian National University Animal Experimentation Ethics Committee. The work was supported by a Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council student grant (02/A/S/08087) and Australian Bicentennial Scholarship (Menzies Centre for Australian Research, University of London).


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Appendix 1.  Table of data on testes dimensions as provided by the Australian National Wildlife Collection (ANWC), CSIRO, Canberra, (R. Palmer, L. Joseph)
A1