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The costs and benefits of parental care will determine whether parents care for their offspring and the degree to which they are involved. Parental care is expensive in terms of both current and future costs of reproduction, which explains why the majority of animals do not care for their young. Current costs are illustrated by the example of a female guarding a clutch of eggs at the expense of laying another clutch or a male that cares for nestlings rather than attracting additional mates. An example of a future cost is the reduction in postbreeding survival suffered by willow tit ...(100 of 17953 words)