Why parrots sometimes adopt—or kill—each other's babies

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Infanticide and adoption in the animal kingdom have long puzzled scientists. While both males and females of many species are known to kill the babies of their rivals to secure sexual or social advantage, other animals have been observed caring for the young of dead or missing comrades.

A team of University of California, Berkeley-led biologists has discovered that both these extreme behaviors are surprisingly common among green-rumped parrotlets, a small South American parrot. In a new study in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, the researchers present nearly 30 years of observations revealing what drives the parrotlets to either care for—or kill—one another's babies.

"In parrotlets, infanticide and adoption revolve around real estate and love," said study author Steven Beissinger, a professor of environmental science, policy and management at the University of California, Berkeley. "Most of the infanticide attacks happened when a breeding pair was attacked by another pair that was trying to take over a coveted nest site. It also occurred when males wanted to breed with a widow who already had offspring—but we were surprised to find that these new males were just as likely to adopt the offspring as attack them."

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