When parents let kids go hungry
By Susan Milius
Scientists creating fake crises at bird nests have confirmed a theory about
parents protecting themselves at their offspring’s expense.
According to theorists, this type of behavior should occur in species that live
relatively long and bear only a few young at a time. Species with shorter lives
and that produce more offspring per batch should take the opposite path: Parents
ought to risk their own lives for the sake of offspring. Field studies have
confirmed these proposed behavior patterns, say Cameron K. Ghalambor of the