Context-dependent visual preferences in starlings and blue tits: mate choice and light environment

2002 ◽  
Vol 63 (1) ◽  
pp. 69-75 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sam A. Maddocks ◽  
Andrew T.D. Bennett ◽  
Sarah Hunt ◽  
Innes C. Cuthill
Keyword(s):  
Mate Choice ◽  
Light Environment ◽  
Visual Preferences ◽  
Context Dependent ◽  
Blue Tits

scholarly journals Context-dependent male mate choice: the effects of competitor presence and competitor size

2011 ◽  
Vol 23 (2) ◽  
pp. 355-360 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sophia Callander ◽  
Patricia R. Y. Backwell ◽  
Michael D. Jennions
Keyword(s):  
Mate Choice ◽  
Male Mate Choice ◽  
Context Dependent ◽  
Male Mate

scholarly journals Context-dependent mate choice in relation to social composition in green swordtails Xiphophorus helleri

2008 ◽  
Vol 19 (5) ◽  
pp. 998-1005 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nick J. Royle ◽  
Jan Lindström ◽  
Neil B. Metcalfe
Keyword(s):  
Mate Choice ◽  
Xiphophorus Helleri ◽  
Social Composition ◽  
Context Dependent

scholarly journals Chemical analysis reveals sex differences in the preen gland secretion of breeding Blue Tits

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Barbara A. Caspers ◽  
Reinaldo Marfull ◽  
Tim Dannenhaus ◽  
Jan Komdeur ◽  
Peter Korsten
Keyword(s):  
Sex Differences ◽  
Chemical Composition ◽  
Mate Choice ◽  
Bird Species ◽  
Visual Signals ◽  
Gland Secretion ◽  
Preen Gland ◽  
Cyanistes Caeruleus ◽  
Social Lives ◽  
Blue Tits

AbstractAcoustic and visual signals are well known to play important roles in social communication in birds. Growing evidence suggests that many bird species, including species of songbirds, additionally have a well-developed sense of smell. However, we are still at the beginning of understanding the potential importance of chemical communication in the social lives of birds, for example in mate choice. The secretion of the preen gland may be an important contributor to the chemical phenotype of birds. Here, we report on a first characterisation of the chemical composition of the preen gland secretion of the Blue Tit (Cyanistes caeruleus), a common songbird which is an often used model species in animal behaviour and ecology, in particular also in studies of sexual selection and (extra-pair) mate choice. We found sex differences in the composition of the preen gland secretion in breeding Blue Tits. Females further tended to have a larger number of putative compounds in their secretions compared to males. We briefly discuss the possible implications of these findings and speculate that the chemical composition of the preen gland secretion may be a sexually selected trait in Blue Tits. Our preliminary findings warrant follow-up research into the patterns of within- and among individual variation in the chemical composition of the preen gland secretion as well as the identification of the main chemical compounds involved.

scholarly journals Context-dependent female mate choice maintains variation in male sexual activity

2017 ◽  
Vol 4 (7) ◽  
pp. 170303 ◽  
Author(s):  
Carolin Sommer-Trembo ◽  
Martin Plath ◽  
Jakob Gismann ◽  
Claudia Helfrich ◽  
David Bierbach
Keyword(s):  
Mate Choice ◽  
Sexual Activity ◽  
Balancing Selection ◽  
Female Mate Choice ◽  
Sexually Active ◽  
Male Harassment ◽  
Female Mate ◽  
The Social ◽  
Choice Tests ◽  
Context Dependent

The existence of individual variation in males' motivation to mate remains a conundrum as directional selection should favour high mating frequencies. Balancing selection resulting from (context-dependent) female mate choice could contribute to the maintenance of this behavioural polymorphism. In dichotomous choice tests, mosquitofish ( Gambusia holbrooki ) females preferred virtual males showing intermediate mating frequencies, reflecting females' tendencies to avoid harassment by highly sexually active males. When tested in the presence of a female shoal—which protects females from male harassment—focal females showed significantly stronger preferences for high sexual activity. A trade-off between (indirect) benefits and (direct) costs of mating with sexually active males probably explains context-dependent female mate choice, as costs depend on the social environment in which females choose their mates. No preference was observed when we tested virgin females, suggesting that the behavioural pattern described here is part of the learned behavioural repertoire of G. holbrooki females.

scholarly journals Meta-analysis shows that context-dependent mating behaviour is inconsistent or weak across animals

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Liam R. Dougherty
Keyword(s):  
Mate Choice ◽  
Mating Behaviour ◽  
Meta Analysis ◽  
Effect Sizes ◽  
Sexual Signals ◽  
Average Effect ◽  
Factors Influencing ◽  
Sexual Signalling ◽  
Context Dependent ◽  
Density Population

AbstractAnimals often need to invest significantly in mating behaviour in order to successfully mate. However, the expression of mating behaviour can be costly, especially in unfavourable environments, so animals are expected to adjust their behaviour in a context-dependent way to mitigate these costs. I systematically searched the literature for studies measuring animal mating behaviour (sexual signalling, response to sexual signals, or the strength of mate choice) in more than one environment, and used a phylogenetically-controlled meta-analysis to identify environmental factors influencing these behaviours. Across 222 studies, the strength of mate choice was significantly context-dependent, and most influenced by population density, population sex ratio, and predation risk. However, the average effect sizes were typically small. The amount of sexual signalling and the strength of response to sexual signals were not significantly related to the environment. Overall, this suggests that the evidence for context-dependent mating behaviour across animals is surprisingly weak.

scholarly journals In the eye of the beholder: visual mate choice lateralization in a polymorphic songbird

2012 ◽  
Vol 8 (6) ◽  
pp. 924-927 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jennifer J. Templeton ◽  
D. James Mountjoy ◽  
Sarah R. Pryke ◽  
Simon C. Griffith
Keyword(s):  
Mate Choice ◽  
Left Hemisphere ◽  
Black Males ◽  
Mate Preferences ◽  
Early Gene ◽  
Male Preference ◽  
Black Females ◽  
Visual Preferences ◽  
Gouldian Finch ◽  
The Right

Birds choose mates on the basis of colour, song and body size, but little is known about the mechanisms underlying these mating decisions. Reports that zebra finches prefer to view mates with the right eye during courtship, and that immediate early gene expression associated with courtship behaviour is lateralized in their left hemisphere suggest that visual mate choice itself may be lateralized. To test this hypothesis, we used the Gouldian finch, a polymorphic species in which individuals exhibit strong, adaptive visual preferences for mates of their own head colour. Black males were tested in a mate-choice apparatus under three eye conditions: left-monocular, right-monocular and binocular. We found that black male preference for black females is so strongly lateralized in the right-eye/left-hemisphere system that if the right eye is unavailable, males are unable to respond preferentially, not only to males and females of the same morph, but also to the strikingly dissimilar female morphs. Courtship singing is consistent with these lateralized mate preferences; more black males sing to black females when using their right eye than when using their left. Beauty, therefore, is in the right eye of the beholder for these songbirds, providing, to our knowledge, the first demonstration of visual mate choice lateralization.

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