Abstract: Flight ability greatly expands the distribution range of birds, allowing for a rapid response to local environmental changes. In the early stages of ontogenesis, chicks are unable to adapt to changes due to lacking flight ability, and thus require much parental care. Parental behavior of birds is different from that of mammals, which mainly relies on maternal care. Male birds have many paternal behaviors, such as nesting, brooding, and rearing fledglings. We summarized related studies on paternal behaviors and underlying mechanisms. (1) Nesting behavior is often accompanied by male courtship behavior. Testosterone promotes both nesting behavior and courtship behavior, while vasopressin promotes nesting behavior. (2) Incubation could transfer heat and thus could protect and support the development of offspring. Meanwhile, it stimulates the release of prolactin, which further promotes the incubation behavior. During this process, testosterone is reduced to a basic level. (3) The breeding behavior is related to the growth rate of young birds, with altricial birds needing more paternal care. Similar to the regulation of incubation behavior, prolactin increases and testosterone decreases. Progesterone is involved in regulating paternal behavior. (4) Environmental stress regulates the paternal behavior by changing corticosterone and prolactin levels. In conclusion, testosterone and prolactin could regulate the development and expression of paternal behavior of birds, which are affected by environmental pressure. Studies on the neuroendocrine mechanisms are limited and the mechanisms require further investigation.