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Fig. 2 | Zoological Letters

Fig. 2

From: Occasional cooperative breeding in birds and the robustness of comparative analyses concerning the evolution of cooperative breeding

Fig. 2

An example of interspecific feeding. During fieldwork on Japanese great tits Parus minor in Karuizawa, Nagano Prefecture, Japan (36.33’138’’ N, 138.56’260’’ E) 15-18 June 2015, we observed a nest of a great spotted woodpecker Dendrocopos major where in addition to the parents. (a), a Japanese great tit male fed the young woodpeckers (b). Based on video recordings, the feeding rate of the parents was much lower than the feeding rate by the great tit (feeding rates: male parent: 5.2/hr, female parent: 4.1/hr, great tit male: 17.2/hr, total time assessed: 14.5 hrs). Inspection with an infrared camera confirmed that the cavity contained four great spotted woodpecker nestlings but no great tit nestlings (c-d). Moreover, the woodpeckers often displaced the male Japanese great tit from the cavity

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Zoological Letters

ISSN: 2056-306X

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