Sequential mating patterns suggest extra–pair mating is not part of a mixed reproductive strategy by female red–winged blackbirds

Weatherhead, Patrick J.

doi:10.1098/rspb.1999.0739

Cited by 15 publications

(17 citation statements)

References 21 publications

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“…This interaction between male age and neighbour's age is unexpected. It makes little sense from a female's perspective, and suggests that EPP by neighbours is not primarily a female‐driven event (supporting conclusions of Westneat 1992b and Weatherhead 1999) but rather emerges out of male–male interactions. For example, it is possible that males new to the study site invest considerably more in patrolling territory boundaries and guarding females than older males, but we have limited behavioural data on these males and so cannot assess this hypothesis.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 95%

Tests of spatial and temporal factors influencing extra‐pair paternity in red‐winged blackbirds

Westneat

Mays

2005

Molecular Ecology

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Extra-pair paternity (EPP) is a widespread and highly variable reproductive phenomenon in birds. We tested the effects of habitat, spatial factors, and timing of breeding on the occurrence of EPP in red-winged blackbirds (Agelaius phoeniceus). We used PCR-amplified microsatellites to assess the paternity of 1479 nestlings from 537 broods on 235 territories over four breeding seasons. Over 4 years, 40% of nestlings were extra-pair. At least 27% of actual sires were non-neighbours, suggesting that males or females interacted over longer distances than in other populations of red-winged blackbirds. The level of EPP was significantly clumped within broods and males but not within females across broods. EPP was negatively related to the area of a male's territory. The spatial proximity of a female's nest to the territory boundary had no effect on total EPP, but tended to increase the probability of an EPP by a nearby male. We found no influence on EPP of the type of habitat on the territory or the level of nesting activity nearby. The time in the season when a nest was started and the synchrony of breeding also had no significant effect on the level of EPP. The age of the male, the age of his neighbours, and the interaction between the two had no effect on total EPP. However, older males were less likely to have an offspring sired by a neighbour on their territory. Males with older neighbours were also less likely to have offspring sired by a neighbour, particularly if they were new territory owners. The high variability in who gained and lost paternity, and the limited impact of spatial and temporal factors influencing it, have some interesting implications for theories seeking to explain mating patterns.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 95%

Tests of spatial and temporal factors influencing extra‐pair paternity in red‐winged blackbirds

Westneat

Mays

2005

Molecular Ecology

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“…These females exclusively chose one of the most attractive males of the population, suggesting that once females encounter very attractive males they can remate without additional sampling to limit search costs. Females of monogamous and resourcebased polygynous species commonly remain faithful and this has been related to past breeding success, the quality of the resources provided by mates and/or advantages to quick pair formation (see Black 1996;Weatherhead 1999). In polygynous species with no male parental care, however, there has been no previous evidence that male attractiveness, which probably re£ects his quality, in£uences mate ¢delity.…”

Section: (A) Dynamic Mate Searchingmentioning

confidence: 99%

Dynamic mate-searching tactic allows female satin bowerbirdsPtilonorhynchus violaceusto reduce searching

Patricelli

Borgia

2000

Proc. R. Soc. Lond. B

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Females can maximize the bene¢ts of mate choice by ¢nding high-quality mates while using search tactics that limit the costs of searching for mates. Mate-searching models indicate that speci¢c search tactics would best optimize this trade-o¡ under di¡erent conditions. These models do not, however, consider that females may use information from previous years to improve mate searching and reduce search costs in subsequent years. We followed female satin bowerbirds Ptilonorhynchus violaceus during mate searching and reconstructed their search patterns. We found that females who chose very attractive males typically mated with the same male in the following year, resulting in these females sampling fewer males than those who switched mates. In contrast, females who mated with less attractive males typically rejected their previous mates and searched longer for more attractive mates in the following mating season. A potential cost to mate searching is suggested by the observed increase in the likelihood of forcecopulation attempts from marauding males with increased searching. Our results suggest that by using past experiences to adjust their search tactics, females may obtain high-quality mates while limiting search costs. These results emphasize the need to consider historical e¡ects in studies of sexual selection, especially for long-lived species with stable display sites.

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“…However, the relation between female characteristics and EPP has received far less attention so far than the relationship between male characteristics and EPP (but see Westneat, 1992;Dunn et al, 1994;Wagner et al, 1996;Stutchbury et al, 1997;Cordero et al, 1999;Kempenaers et al, 1999;Weatherhead, 1999;Li & Brown, 2000;Veiga & Boto, 2000;Dickinson, 2001). Only three studies have reported female age to be correlated with the proportion of EPP in their broods.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Old female reed buntings (Emberiza schoeniclus) increase extra-pair paternity in their broods when mated to young males

Bouwman¹,

Komdeur²

2005

Behav

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SummaryIn birds, females are generally assumed to determine whether extra-pair copulations occur, and thus most studies on extra-pair paternity (EPP) have focussed on female preference for male traits, whereas female traits have been largely neglected. However, the occurrence of EPP is likely to be a result of behavioural interactions (e.g., mate guarding by the social male and escaping mate guarding by the female), and may be related to individual experience, which is expected to increase with age. We investigated the effect of age on levels of EPP in reed buntings Emberiza schoeniclus, a socially monogamous passerine with extremely high levels of extra-pair young (more than 50% of offspring). In broods of older males the rate of cuckoldry declined, which is in agreement with our previous finding that older males are more successful, either through female choice or through male experience. In contrast, older females tended to increase the level of extra-pair paternity in their broods. When including the age of the partner, we found that young males, but not old males, were cuckolded more by old females than by young females. The increase in EPP with female age is not likely to be due to disassortative mating with respect to age, an increased capacity of older females to raise a brood without male help, nor a male preference for older females. With age, males nor females changed their share in parental effort. We suggest that with increase in age, females become more choosy when selecting the male that sires their offspring, or alternatively, become more experienced at circumventing paternity assurance tactics of young males.

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Sequential mating patterns suggest extra–pair mating is not part of a mixed reproductive strategy by female red–winged blackbirds

Cited by 15 publications

References 21 publications

Tests of spatial and temporal factors influencing extra‐pair paternity in red‐winged blackbirds

Tests of spatial and temporal factors influencing extra‐pair paternity in red‐winged blackbirds

Dynamic mate-searching tactic allows female satin bowerbirdsPtilonorhynchus violaceusto reduce searching

Old female reed buntings (Emberiza schoeniclus) increase extra-pair paternity in their broods when mated to young males

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