Certain predominant forms of mating and parental care systems are assumed in several model species among birds, but the opportunistic and apparently infrequent variations of “family structures” may often remain hidden due to methodological limitations with regard to genetic or behavioral observations. One of the intensively studied model species, the collared flycatcher (Ficedula albicollis), is usually characterized by social monogamy with polyterritorial, facultative social polygyny, and frequent extrapair mating and extrapair paternity. During a brood-size manipulation experiment, we observed two females and a male delivering food at an enlarged brood. A combination of breeding phenology data (egg laying and hatching date), behavioral data (feeding rates) from video recordings at 10 days of nestling age, and microsatellite genotyping for maternity and paternity suggests a situation of an unrelated female helping a pair in chick rearing. Such observations highlight the relevance of using traditional techniques and genetic analyses together to assess the parental roles within a population, which becomes more important where individuals may dynamically switch from their main and presupposed roles according to the actual environmental conditions.

中文翻译：

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有领捕蝇器 (Ficedula albicollis) 的三亲照顾：两只雌性与一只戴绿帽子的雄性合作育雏

在鸟类中的几个模型物种中假设了某些主要形式的交配和父母照顾系统，但由于遗传或行为观察方面的方法学限制，“家庭结构”的机会主义和明显不常见的变化可能经常隐藏。深入研究的模式物种之一，有领捕蝇器（Ficedula albicollis）)，通常的特点是社会一夫一妻制，多领土、兼性社会一夫多妻制，以及频繁的异族交配和异族父权。在育雏大小操纵实验中，我们观察到两只雌性和一只雄性在扩大的育雏中送食。育种物候数据（产卵和孵化日期）、来自雏鸟 10 天视频记录的行为数据（喂食率）以及母系和父系的微卫星基因分型的组合表明，一个无关女性帮助一对雏鸟饲养的情况. 这些观察结果强调了将传统技术和遗传分析结合使用来评估种群中亲代角色的相关性，