It takes a village -- Female ducks negotiate joint rearing of ducklings

Waterfowl are "careful, sophisticated bargainers," negotiating not only how much effort each puts into communal rearing of ducklings, but also profit-sharing, says a new study from the American Naturalist. Female eider ducks are well known to team up and share the work of rearing ducklings, but it now appears that they also negotiate not only how much effort each puts into the partnership, but also profit-sharing. An international group of scientists used a long-running study of the eider population in a Finnish archipelago to test predictions about how each hen seeks to maximize her benefits from the partnership without making it so unattractive that other hens withdraw their participation.


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