scholarly journals Female Song Rate and Structure Predict Reproductive Success in a Socially Monogamous Bird

2016 ◽  
Vol 4 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dianne H. Brunton ◽  
Michelle M. Roper ◽  
Aaron M. T. Harmer
Keyword(s):  
Reproductive Success ◽  
Female Song ◽  
Song Rate ◽  
Socially Monogamous

Duetting correlates with territory quality and reproductive success in a suboscine bird with low extra-pair paternity

The Auk ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 136 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Pedro Diniz ◽  
Regina H Macedo ◽  
Michael S Webster
Keyword(s):  
Reproductive Success ◽  
Cooperative Behavior ◽  
Mate Guarding ◽  
Territory Quality ◽  
Territory Defense ◽  
Extra Pair Paternity ◽  
Female Song ◽  
Fitness Consequences ◽  
Socially Monogamous ◽  
Low Rate

AbstractDuetting has been intensively studied, but we still have little consensus about its fitness consequences. Some studies suggest that duetting functions in acoustic mate guarding to prevent cuckoldry (acoustic paternity guarding hypothesis), whereas other studies argue that duetting is a cooperative behavior to defend common resources (territory defense hypothesis). We tested these 2 hypotheses by investigating the relationships among song traits, extra-pair paternity, territory quality and reproductive success in the Rufous Hornero (Furnarius rufus), a Neotropical, socially monogamous bird. We found a low rate of extra-pair paternity (3.33% of 120 offspring and 6.52% of 46 broods), which suggests that acoustic paternity guarding is probably not a primary function of duetting behavior in this species. Female song output was positively correlated with territory quality, measured as the availability of territory foraging patches. The number of young that survived post-fledging was positively correlated with duet duration, but not with territory features. Our results support the territory defense hypothesis, suggesting that female song in duets might be used in the defense of food resources within territories. Our study provides the first evidence that song traits correlate with both territory features and reproductive success in a duetting species.

Extra-pair copulations in common murres I: a mate attraction strategy?

Behaviour ◽  
2006 ◽  
Vol 143 (10) ◽  
pp. 1241-1262 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maureen L. Cameron-Macmillan ◽  
Carolyn J. Walsh ◽  
Sabina I. Wilhelm ◽  
Anne E. Storey
Keyword(s):  
Reproductive Success ◽  
Uria Aalge ◽  
Success Rates ◽  
High Quality ◽  
Mate Attraction ◽  
Extra Pair Paternity ◽  
Socially Monogamous ◽  
Common Murres ◽  
Breeding Seasons

AbstractWe investigated the behavioural context of pair (PCs) and extra-pair copulations (EPCs) in individually-marked socially-monogamous, long-lived seabirds, common murres (Uria aalge). Since forced EPCs have been documented for this species, we first examined which sex controls successful (cloacal contact achieved) copulation. The finding that all successful copulations required female cooperation and crouching suggested that benefits of successful EPCs accrue primarily to females. In a group of murres for which paternity analyses indicated no extra-pair paternity, behavioural observations over five breeding seasons showed that individual females engaged in EPCs primarily under two circumstances: (1) before they were reunited with their mates, and (2) when they were in the process of re-pairing. There was no such relationship between EPCs and re-pairing for males. Successful EPCs occurred with familiar neighboring males of apparent high quality, indicated by their high ledge attendance and prior reproductive success rates. Thus, EPCs may be used by females to attract potential high quality mates in situations where females are attempting to re-pair as a result of divorce or mate death.

Effects of nestboxes and males on female song activity in the European starling: an experimental study

Behaviour ◽  
2007 ◽  
Vol 144 (10) ◽  
pp. 1255-1271 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rianne Pinxten ◽  
Denitza Pavlova ◽  
Marcel Eens ◽  
Veerle Darras
Keyword(s):  
Breeding Season ◽  
Social Factors ◽  
European Starling ◽  
Day Length ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Breeding Period ◽  
European Starlings ◽  
Female Song ◽  
Song Rate ◽  
Song Production

AbstractEnvironmental, contextual or social factors influencing song in female songbirds have been little studied. Female European starlings Sturnus vulgaris sing robustly throughout most of the year, except during the breeding season when their song production dramatically decreases. Here we experimentally investigated the effect of the presence of males and/or nestboxes on song production in captive female starlings during the breeding season. Spontaneous song activity of two experimental groups and one control group (housed with nestboxes, but no males) was observed for one month from the end of March onwards. Additionally, we tested whether female song rate is related to oestradiol plasma levels. The experimental results showed that song rate significantly decreased with the progressing of the breeding season and this process seemed not to be regulated by oestradiol. Nestboxes clearly promoted song production, as previously found in male starlings, while the presence of males negatively affected female song rate. Taken together these results indicate that, in the course of the breeding period, the suppressive influence of the day length and the presence of males on female song production override the stimulating effect of nestboxes, and that engagement in breeding activities is largely incompatible with singing in female starlings.

scholarly journals Extrapair Paternity Increases Variability in Male Reproductive Success in the Chestnut-Sided Warbler (Dendroica Pensylvanica), A Socially Monogamous Songbird

The Auk ◽  
2004 ◽  
Vol 121 (3) ◽  
pp. 788-795
Author(s):  
Bruce E. Byers ◽  
Herman L. Mays ◽  
Ian R. K. Stewart ◽  
David F. Westneat
Keyword(s):  
Sexual Selection ◽  
Reproductive Success ◽  
Dna Typing ◽  
Bird Species ◽  
Male Reproductive Success ◽  
Extrapair Paternity ◽  
Bird Populations ◽  
Monogamous Species ◽  
Socially Monogamous ◽  
Dendroica Pensylvanica

Abstract A monogamous mating system that includes extrapair fertilization can potentially generate higher variability in male reproductive success than monogamy without extrapair fertilization. That increased variability could provide a correspondingly higher opportunity for sexual selection and, thus, for the origin and persistence of sexual dimorphism in monogamous species. To determine whether extrapair fertilization enhanced the opportunity for sexual selection in a sexually dimorphic, monogamous bird species, we used microsatellite DNA typing to assess the prevalence of extrapair fertilization and its effect on variation in male reproductive success in a population of Chestnut-sided Warblers (Dendroica pensylvanica). We found that the level of extrapair fertilization in our study population was at the upper end of the range reported for bird populations (47% of nestlings had extrapair fathers; 61% of broods contained extrapair offspring). We also discovered that almost all extrapair offspring were sired by paired males resident on nearby territories. In addition, we found that variation in male reproductive success was substantially higher than variation in female reproductive success, and that extrapair fertilizations made a significant contribution to variation in male reproductive success. Together, those findings suggest that extrapair fertilization creates an opportunity for sexual selection on male traits in this population.

scholarly journals Living with strangers: direct benefits favour non-kin cooperation in a communally nesting bird

2010 ◽  
Vol 278 (1712) ◽  
pp. 1728-1735 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christina Riehl
Keyword(s):  
Reproductive Success ◽  
Genetic Relatedness ◽  
Female Group ◽  
Reproductive Competition ◽  
Direct Benefits ◽  
Socially Monogamous ◽  
Single Colour ◽  
Group Members ◽  
Communally Nesting ◽  
Greater Ani

The greater ani ( Crotophaga major ), a Neotropical cuckoo, exhibits an unusual breeding system in which several socially monogamous pairs lay eggs in a single nest and contribute care to the communal clutch. Cooperative nesting is costly—females compete for reproduction by ejecting each other's eggs—but the potential direct or indirect fitness benefits that might accrue to group members have not been identified. In this study, I used molecular genotyping to quantify patterns of genetic relatedness and individual reproductive success within social groups in a single colour-banded population. Microsatellite analysis of 122 individuals in 49 groups revealed that group members are not genetic relatives. Group size was strongly correlated with individual reproductive success: solitary pairs were extremely rare and never successful, and nests attended by two pairs were significantly more likely to be depredated than were nests attended by three pairs. Egg loss, a consequence of reproductive competition, was greater in large groups and disproportionately affected females that initiated laying. However, early-laying females compensated for egg losses by laying larger clutches, and female group members switched positions in the laying order across nesting attempts. The greater ani, therefore, appears to be one of the few species in which cooperative breeding among unrelated individuals is favoured by direct, shared benefits that outweigh the substantial costs of reproductive competition.

scholarly journals Variance in within-pair reproductive success influences the opportunity for selection annually and over the lifetimes of males in a multi-brooded songbird

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ryan R. Germain ◽  
Michael T. Hallworth ◽  
Sara A. Kaiser ◽  
T. Scott Sillett ◽  
Michael S. Webster
Keyword(s):  
Reproductive Success ◽  
Reproductive Strategies ◽  
Male Reproduction ◽  
Lifetime Reproductive Success ◽  
Male Reproductive Success ◽  
Components Of Variance ◽  
Lifetime Fitness ◽  
Monogamous Species ◽  
Socially Monogamous ◽  
Opportunity For Selection

AbstractIn socially monogamous species, male reproductive success consists of ‘within-pair’ offspring produced with their socially-paired mate(s), and ‘extra-pair’ offspring produced with additional females throughout the population. Both reproductive pathways offer distinct opportunities for selection in wild populations, as each is composed of separate components of mate attraction, female fecundity, and paternity allocation. Identifying key sources of variance and covariance among these components is a crucial step towards understanding the reproductive strategies that males use to maximize fitness both annually and over their lifetimes. We use 16 years of complete reproductive data from a population of black-throated blue warblers (Setophaga caerulescens) to partition variance in male annual and lifetime reproductive success, and thereby identify if the opportunity for selection varies over the lifetimes of individual males and what reproductive strategies likely favor maximum lifetime fitness. The majority of variance in male reproduction was attributable to within-pair success, but the specific effects of individual components of variance differed between total annual and total lifetime reproductive success. Positive overall lifetime covariance between within-pair and extra-pair components indicates that males able to maximize within-pair success, particularly with double-brooding females, likely achieve higher overall lifetime fitness via both within-pair and extra-pair reproductive pathways.

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