Data from: Nature versus nurture: Structural equation modeling indicates that parental care does not mitigate consequences of poor environmental conditions in Eastern bluebirds (Sialia sialis)

1. How organisms respond to variation in environmental conditions and
whether behavioral responses can mitigate negative consequences on growth,
condition and other fitness measures are critical to our ability to
conserve populations in changing environments. Offspring development is
affected by environmental conditions and parental care behavior. When
adverse environmental conditions are present, parents may alter behaviors
to mitigate the impacts of poor environmental conditions on offspring. 2.
We determined if parental behavior (provisioning rates, attentiveness,
nest temperature) varied in relation to environmental conditions (e.g.,
food availability, ectoparasites) and if parental behavior mitigated
negative consequences of the environment on their offspring in Eastern
bluebirds (Sialia sialis). 3. We found that offspring on territories with
lower food availability had higher hematocrit, and when bird blow flies
(Protocalliphora spp.) were present growth rates were reduced. Parents
increased provisioning and nest attendance in response to increased food
availability but did not alter behavior in response to parasitism by blow
flies. While parents altered behavior in response to resource
availability, parents were unable to override the direct effects of
negative environmental conditions on offspring growth and hematocrit. 4.
Our work highlights the importance of the environment on offspring
development and suggests that parents may not be able to sufficiently
alter behavior to ameliorate challenging environmental conditions.