A few interesting "negotiation of parental care" papers

Some early models for the maintenance of bi-parental care require a partial compensation response by both parents, which, in turn, requires that both parents react similarly to other external stimuli, which has been demonstrated not to be so. There is some support for a "sealed bid" model, in which parents make a decision and then do not deviate from it, but it seems unlikely that such inflexibility would produce the complex interactions that characterize bi-parental care. Maybe it is just that a model that predicts "no change" is conceptually difficult to refute. Other dynamic models have been proposed but not thoroughly tested....yet.

RIS file with all the references

Ardia, D.R. 2007. Site- and sex-level differences in adult feeding behaviour and its consequences to offspring quality in tree swallows (Tachycineta bicolor) following brood-size manipulation. Can. J. Zool. 85: 847-854 (pdf file).

Barg, J.J., Jones, J., Girvan, M.K. and Robertson, R.J. 2006. Within-pair interactions and parental behavior of Cerulean Warblers breeding in eastern Ontario. Wilson J. Ornithol., 118: 316-325 (pdf file).

Bartlett, T.L., Mock, D.W. & Schwagmeyer, P.L. 2005. Division of labor: incubation and biparental care in house sparrows (Passer domesticus). Auk 122: 835-842 (pdf file).

Beaulieu, M., Raclot, T., Dervaux, A., Le Maho, Y., Ropert-Coudert, Y. & Ancel, A. 2009. Can a handicapped parent rely on its partner? An experimental study within Adélie penguin pairs. Anim. Behav. 78: 313-320 (pdf file).

Chase, I.D. 1980. Cooperative and non-cooperative behavior in animals. Am. Nat., 115: 827-857 (pdf file).

Eldegard, K. and Sonerud, G.A. 2010. Experimental increase in food supply influences the outcome of within-family conflicts in Tengmalm's owl. Behav. Ecol. Sociobiol., 64: 815-826 (pdf file).

García-Navas, V. and Sanz, J.J. 2010. Flexibility in the foraging behavior of blue tits in response to short-term manipulations of brood size. Ethology, 116: 744-754 (pdf file).

Gorman, H.E., Arnold, K.E. & Nager, R.G. 2005. Incubation effort in relation to male attractiveness in zebra finches Taeniopygia guttata. J. Avian. Biol. 36: 413-420 (pdf file).

Gurven, M., Winking, J., Kaplan, H., von Rueden, C. and McAllister, L. 2009. A bioeconomic approach to marriage and the sexual division of labor. Hum. Nat., 20: 151-183 (pdf file).

Harrison, F., Barta, Z., Cuthill, I. and Székely, T. 2009. How is sexual conflict over parental care resolved? A meta-analysis. J. Evo. Biol., 22: 1800-1812 (pdf file).

Hinde, C.A. 2006. Negotiation over offspring care? - A positive response to partner-provisioning rate in great tits. Behav. Ecol., 17: 6-12 (pdf file).

Hinde, C.A. & Kilner, R.M. 2007. Negotiations within the family over the supply of parental care. Proc. R. Soc. B 274: 53-60 (pdf file).

 Houston, A.I., Sékely, T. & McNamara, J.M. 2005. Conflict between parents over care. Trends in Ecology and Evolution 20: 33-38 (pdf file).

Hunt, J. and Simmons, L.W. 2002. Behavioural dynamics of biparental care in the dung beetle Onthophagus taurus. Anim. Behav., 64: 65-75 (pdf file).

Johnstone, R.A. & Hinde, C.A. 2006. Negotiation over offspring care - how should parents respond to each other's efforts? Behav. Ecol. 17: 818-827 (pdf file).

Kosztolányi, A., Cuthill, I.C. & Sékely, T. 2009. Negotiation between parents over care: reversible compensation during incubation. Behav. Ecol. 20: 446-452 (pdf file).

Lozano, G.A. and Lemon, R.E. 1995. Food abundance and parental care in yellow warblers (Dendroica petechia). Behav. Ecol. Sociobiol., 37: 45-50 (pdf file).

Lozano, G.A. and Lemon, R.E. 1998a. Parental-care responses by yellow warblers (Dendroica petechia) to simultaneous manipulations of food abundance and brood size. Can. J. Zool., 76: 916-924 (pdf file).

Lozano, G.A. and Lemon, R.E. 1999. Effects of prior residency and age on breeding performance in yellow warblers. Wilson Bull., 111: 381-388 (pdf file).

MacGregor, N.A. and Cockburn, A. 2002. Sex differences in parental response to begging nestlings in superb fairy-wrens. Anim. Behav., 63: 923-932 (pdf file).

Magrath, M.J.L., Janson, J., Komdeur, J., Elgar, M.A. and Mulder, R.A. 2007. Provisioning adjustments by male and female fairy martins to short-term manipulations of brood size. Behaviour, 144: 1119-1132 (pdf file).

Meade, J., Nam, K.B., Lee, J.W. and Hatchwell, B.J. 2011. An experimental test of the information model for negotiation of biparental care. PLoS One, 6: art. no. e19684 (pdf file).

Mills, A.M. 2005. Can breeding habitat be sexually selected? Auk, 122: 689-700 (pdf file).

Mills, A.M. 2007. Foraging segregation in a breeding bird guild declines following nesting. Can. J. Zool., 85: 141-150 (pdf file).

Mills, A.M. and Rising, J.D. 2007. Limitations of ecomorphological analysis in explaining macrohabitat segregation in a songbird guild. Ecoscience, 14: 155-164 (pdf file).

Mock, D.W. & Schwagmeyer, P.L. 2010. Not the nice sparrow. Wilson J. Ornithol. 122: 207-216 (pdf file).

Mock, D.W., Schwagmeyer, P.L. and Parker, G.A. 2005. Male house sparrows deliver more food to experimentally subsidized offspring. Anim. Behav., 70: 225-236 (pdf file).

Paredes, R., Jones, I.L. & Boness, D.J. 2005. Reduced parental care, compensatory behaviour and reproductive costs of thick-billed murres equipped with data loggers. Anim. Behav. 69: 197-208 (pdf file).

Pilastro, A., Griggio, M. & Matessi, G. 2003. Male rock sparrows adjust their breeding strategy according to female ornamentation: parental or mating investment? Anim. Behav. 66: 265-271 (pdf file).

Ratnieks, F.L.W. 1996. Evolution of unstable and stable biparental care. Behav. Ecol., 7: 490-493 (pdf file).

Rauter, C.M. and Moore, A.J. 2004. Time constraints and trade-offs among parental care behaviours: Effects of brood size, sex and loss of mate. Anim. Behav., 68: 695-702 (pdf file).

Robinson, J.A. and Hamer, K.C. 2000. Brood size and food provisioning in Common Terns Sterna hirundo and Arctic Terns S. paradisaea: consequences for chick growth. Ardea, 88: 51-60 (pdf file).

Royle, N.J., Hartley, I.R. and Parker, G.A. 2004. Parental investment and family dynamics: Interactions between theory and empirical tests. Population Ecology, 46: 231-241 (pdf file).

Schwagmeyer, P.L., Bartlett, T.L. & Schwabl, H.G. 2008. Dynamics of house sparrow biparental care: what contexts trigger partial compensation? Ethology 114: 459-468 (pdf file).

Schwagmeyer, P.L., Mock, D.W. and Parker, G.A. 2002. Biparental care in house sparrows: Negotiation or sealed bid? Behav. Ecol., 13: 713-721 (pdf file).

Schwagmeyer, P.L., St. Clair, R.C., Moodie, J.D., Lamey, T.C., Schnell, G.D. & Moodie, M.N. 1999. Species differences in male parental care in birds: a reexamination of correlates with paternity. Auk 116: 487-503 (pdf file).

Stodola, K.W., Linder, E.T., Buehler, D.A., Franzreb, K.E. and Cooper, R.J. 2009. Parental care in the multi-brooded black-throated blue warbler. Condor, 111: 497-502 (pdf file).

Stodola, K.W., Linder, E.T., Buehler, D.A., Franzreb, K.E., Kim, D.H. and Cooper, R.J. 2010. Relative influence of male and female care in determining nestling mass in a migratory songbird. J. Avian. Biol., 41: 515-522 (pdf file).

Suzuki, S. & Nagano, M. 2009. To compensate or not? Caring parents respond differentially to mate removal and mate handicapping in the burying beetle, Nicrophorus quadripunctatus. Ethology 115: 1-6 (pdf file).

Velando, A. and Alonso-Alvarez, C. 2003. Differential body condition regulation by males and females in response to experimental manipulations of brood size and parental effort in the blue-footed booby. J. Anim. Ecol., 72: 846-856 (pdf file).

Verhulst, S. and Tinbergen, J.M. 1997. Clutch size and parental effort in the Great Tit Parus major. Ardea, 85: 111-126 (pdf file).

Voltura, K.M., Schwagmeyer, P.L. & Mock, D.W. 2002. Parental feeding rates in the house sparrow, Passer domesticus: are larger-badged males better fathers? Ethology 108: 1011-1022 (pdf file).

Wright, J. & Cuthill, I. 1989. Manipulation of sex differences in parental care. Behav. Ecol. Sociobiol. 25: 171-181 (pdf file).

Wright, J. and Cuthill, I. 1990a. Biparental care: Short-term manipulation of partner contribution and brood size in the starling, Sturnus vulgaris. Behav. Ecol., 1: 116-124 (pdf file).

Wright, J. and Cuthill, I. 1990b. Manipulation of sex differences in parental care: the effect of brood size. Anim. Behav., 40: 462-471 (pdf file).

Wright, J. and Dingemanse, N.J. 1999. Parents and helpers compensate for experimental changes in the provisioning effort of others in the Arabian babbler. Anim. Behav., 58: 345-350 (pdf file).