Pair and extra-pair mating success relative to male quality in red-winged blackbirds

1995 ◽  
Vol 37 (2) ◽  
pp. 81-91 ◽  
Author(s):  
Patrick J. Weatherhead ◽  
Peter T. Boag
2019 ◽  
Vol 31 (2) ◽  
pp. 421-431 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lei Lv ◽  
Zhengwang Zhang ◽  
Frank Groenewoud ◽  
Sjouke A Kingma ◽  
Jianqiang Li ◽  
...  

Abstract In socially monogamous species with bi-parental care, males may face a trade-off between providing parental care and pursuing extra-pair matings. The “parenting-mating trade-off” hypothesis predicts that high-quality males—who have greater potential to gain extra-pair matings, for example, larger males usually win the competition for extra-pair mating—should reduce parental care and spend more time looking for extra-pair matings. However, the trade-off between parenting and mating efforts may be complicated by variation in the availability of extra-pair mating opportunities. By using field data of hair-crested drongos (Dicrurus hottentottus), a species exhibiting bi-parental incubation behavior, collected in central China from 2010 to 2017, we tested whether the potential negative relationship between male quality and paternal care was dependent on the number of nearby fertile females. We found that male drongos mainly seek extra-pair matings during the incubation period and high-quality individuals (males with longer tarsi) are more likely to sire extra-pair offspring. In agreement with the “parenting-mating trade-off” hypothesis, high-quality males incubated less by recessing longer between incubation bouts. However, this was only the case when sufficient fertile females nearby for extra-pair mating opportunities. Females compensated for reduced male care, but this was independent of male quality. This suggests that the reduction in care by high-quality males might be a direct response to extra-pair mating opportunities rather than facilitated by differential allocation of females. Our results indicate that individual quality and available mating opportunities may shape the optimal trade-off between parental care and seeking additional matings for males.


The Condor ◽  
2009 ◽  
Vol 111 (4) ◽  
pp. 684-693 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter J. Kappes ◽  
Bridget J. M. Stutchbury ◽  
Bonnie E. Woolfenden

2020 ◽  
Vol 98 (1) ◽  
pp. 55-61
Author(s):  
Lisha L. Berzins ◽  
Russell D. Dawson

Recent empirical evidence suggests that ornamental traits displayed by female birds may reflect aspects of their quality, and function during competitive interactions and (or) social mate attraction; however, less is known about how such traits influence extra-pair paternity. In Tree Swallows (Tachycineta bicolor (Vieillot, 1808)), plumage brightness of females signals their quality and may be related to extra-pair paternity if it enables them to invade the territories of other females to seek extra-pair copulations and (or) if potential extra-pair mates perceive their plumage brightness as attractive. Therefore, to examine whether the plumage brightness displayed by females influence rates of extra-pair paternity and the number of sires per brood, we experimentally enhanced and reduced the plumage brightness of females relative to controls. Our results showed that plumage brightness treatment of the female did not influence the number of extra-pair offspring in nests or the likelihood of a brood containing extra-pair offspring. Additionally, the number of extra-pair males siring offspring within the broods of females did not differ by plumage brightness treatment. Although extra-pair paternity has been shown to be beneficial for female Tree Swallows, our results suggest that plumage brightness of females does not influence their ability to engage in extra-pair mating.


1998 ◽  
Vol 29 (1) ◽  
pp. 72 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bridget J. M. Stutchbury ◽  
Eugene S. Morton ◽  
Walter H. Piper

2013 ◽  
Vol 280 (1771) ◽  
pp. 20132175 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniel T. Baldassarre ◽  
Michael S. Webster

Theory suggests that traits under positive selection may introgress asymmetrically across a hybrid zone, potentially driven by sexual selection. Two subspecies of the red-backed fairy-wren ( Malurus melanocephalus ) differ primarily in a sexual signal used in mate choice—red versus orange male back plumage colour—but phylogeographic analyses suggest asymmetrical introgression of red plumage into the genetic background of the orange subspecies. We hypothesized that this asymmetrical introgression may be facilitated by sexual selection if red males have a mating advantage over orange males. We tested this hypothesis with correlational data and a plumage manipulation experiment where we reddened the back plumage of a subset of orange males to mimic males of the red subspecies. There was no correlational evidence of a mating advantage to naturally redder males in this population. Experimentally reddened males sired a similar amount of within-pair young and lost paternity at the same rate as orange males, but they sired significantly more extra-pair young, leading to substantially higher total reproductive success. Thus, we conclude that sexual selection via extra-pair mating is a likely mechanism responsible for the asymmetrical introgression of plumage colour in this system, and is potentially driven by a sensory bias for the red plumage signal.


2008 ◽  
Vol 17 (16) ◽  
pp. 3697-3706 ◽  
Author(s):  
ANNA M.  FORSMAN ◽  
LAURA A.  VOGEL ◽  
SCOTT K.  SAKALUK ◽  
BONNIE G.  JOHNSON ◽  
BRIAN S.  MASTERS ◽  
...  

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