Data from: Acoustic communication in zebra finches signals when mates will take turns with parental duties

Bi-parental care may involve both cooperation and conflict between parents. Parents adjust their workload to that of their partner and this ability is likely to affect reproductive success. Whether mates communicate, either to resolve the sexual conflict or to coordinate their joint investment in parental care is a largely unaddressed question which we examined by recording wild zebra finches at the nest during incubation. Zebra finch (Taeniopygia guttata) partners produce vocal exchanges at the nest that can be characterized as duets. Some duets end in nest-relief (when birds take turns incubating and foraging) but some do not (when the foraging mate vocally interacts with its incubating partner by coming inside or in the vicinity of the nest). Our data indicate that the structure of the duet predicted its outcome (relief or not), with a parent calling differently before leaving or staying in the nest by modifying its vocal repertoire as well as the acoustic structure of one particular call type which is typically used inside the nest. Zebra finch partners may thus exchange on the time to take turns with parental duties. Our results show that acoustic communication between partners might be of importance in the organization of parental care and could help in understanding sexual conflict resolution or cooperation phenomena in future studies.

双亲抚育行为（bi-parental care）可能同时存在亲本间的合作与冲突。亲本会根据伴侣的抚育负荷调整自身的投入水平，而该能力极有可能影响繁殖成功率。关于配偶是否会通过交流来化解性冲突或协调双方在育幼中的共同投入，这一问题迄今尚未得到充分研究——本研究通过记录孵卵期野生斑胸草雀（Taeniopygia guttata）在巢中的发声行为，对该问题进行了探究。斑胸草雀的配偶会在巢中发出可归类为二重鸣唱（duets）的声音交流信号。部分二重鸣唱会以孵卵换班告终（即鸟类轮流孵卵与外出觅食），而另一部分则不会：此时外出觅食的亲代会进入巢内或巢区附近，与正在孵卵的伴侣进行声音互动。我们的研究数据显示，二重鸣唱的结构可预测其最终结果（是否发生换班）。当亲本准备离开巢穴或留守巢中时，会通过调整自身的鸣唱曲目，以及某一类典型巢内鸣唱的声学特征，来改变其鸣唱模式。由此可见，斑胸草雀的配偶或许会就育幼职责的轮换时机开展交流。本研究结果表明，配偶间的声学交流可能对育幼行为的组织协调具有重要意义，未来的相关研究或可依托该发现进一步探讨性冲突的解决机制与合作现象。