Bird parents have many different strategies to raising their young.  Here are the main strategies that bird parents choose to raise their young, from monogamy to polygyny and polyandry.

Being able to identify different animals and birds is the first step in understanding the natural world around us.  The next step is to begin to understand the animals’ behavior.  An important part of birds’ and all animals’ life is reproduction and raising babies.  I find it interesting and surprising to see how many different strategies birds have to raising their young.

Bird Parents – Three Strategies To Raise Baby Birds

Monogamy

This is the most common form of parenting for birds, and one that we, humans, are familiar with.  Monogamy is one male with one female to mate and have a baby.

Scientists estimate that 90% of all birds behave in this manner.  Researchers think that most birds are monogamous because it takes both parents to raise the young.  It takes a lot of work to make sure the babies survive to become adults.

In the past it was thought that birds would mate and stay faithful to each other while they raised their young.  Some birds are partners for the year and others for life.  New research has shown that it is not as simple and straightforward as we used to think.

Many birds are not faithful to their partners.  Some birds may be partners raising babies together, but the baby may not be both of theirs.  The female may have ‘cheated on’ her partner so the father would be a different bird.  Or in some cases a female may lay an egg in another’s nest!

Polygyny

Only a small percentage of birds in the world are not monogamous.  About 2% of birds practice polygyny in which one male partners and breeds with more than one female at the same time.

Some of the birds that are polygynous include Red-Winged Blackbirds, the Marsh Wren, and some Grouse.

Polyandry

This is the opposite of polygyny in which one female partners and breeds with more than one male at the same time.  Only about 1% of bird species in the world do this.

Some of the birds that practice polyandry include Spotted Sandpipers and the Northern Jacana.