Sexual recognition and anticuckoldry behaviour in savannah sparrows
Keyword(s):
Models of male and female savannah sparrows were presented 179 times in 11 territories through the breeding season. Detection of the models was highly temperature dependent. Using only trials in which the models were detected it was found that before nest initiation both models were treated as male, whereas during the early nesting period the male model was treated as male and the female model was treated as female. Later in the nesting period both models were treated as female although the female elicited stronger responses. These results are interpreted as consistent with predicted anticuckoldry behaviour by breeding males.