Offspring desertion is often a plastic behavioral strategy that requires precise timing as the termination of parental care may have profound consequences for the fitness of parents and offspring. However, the decision process involved with termination of care is still poorly understood. Snowy Plovers Charadrius nivosus show highly flexible brood care with some females deserting the brood early and re-mate, whereas others provide extended care until the young are independent. Using a dynamic modeling framework, we investigated the effect of multiple factors on the decision-making process of female brood care in Ceuta, Mexico over a 7-year period. Females were more likely to stay with larger broods, while their probability of care was lower at the beginning of the season, when re-mating opportunities are higher than later in the season. Offspring condition at hatching did not influence the length of female care. Chick death and offspring desertion frequently coincided, suggesting that deteriorating offspring condition may trigger female desertion. Females deserted broods with high survival prospects when their absence did not impact negatively chick survival. Conversely, females deserted broods with low survival prospects when chick mortality despite female care reduced the value of the brood and re-mating was still possible. This suggests that female Snowy Plovers are sensitive to the needs and the value of their broods and adjust their parental care strategy accordingly. Taken together, we conclude that offspring desertion is a highly plastic behavior that allows females to maximize their reproductive success in a stochastic environment.

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小心遗弃后代？雪鸻的雏鸡死亡率和塑料雌性遗弃

后代遗弃通常是一种可塑的行为策略，需要精确的时间安排，因为终止父母的照顾可能会对父母和后代的健康产生深远的影响。然而，与终止护理有关的决策过程仍然知之甚少。雪鸻 Charadrius nivosus表现出高度灵活的育雏护理，一些雌性早期抛弃育雏并重新交配，而另一些则提供延长的护理，直到幼崽独立。使用动态建模框架，我们在 7 年的时间里调查了多种因素对墨西哥休达雌性育雏护理决策过程的影响。雌性更有可能与较大的幼鸟待在一起，而它们在季节开始时受到照顾的可能性较低，此时重新交配的机会比季节后期高。孵化时的后代状况不影响雌性照顾的时间长短。雏鸡死亡和后代遗弃经常同时发生，这表明不断恶化的后代状况可能会引发雌性遗弃。当它们的缺席不会对雏鸡的生存产生负面影响时，雌性就会抛弃具有高生存前景的育雏。相反，当尽管有雌性照料的雏鸡死亡率降低了育雏的价值并且仍然有可能重新交配时，雌性会遗弃生存前景低的育雏。这表明雌性雪鸻对幼崽的需求和价值很敏感，并相应地调整父母的照顾策略。综上所述，我们得出结论，后代遗弃是一种高度可塑性的行为，它允许雌性在随机环境中最大限度地繁殖成功。