Do male birds intercept and use rival courtship calls to adjust paternity protection behaviours?

TY - JOUR

T1 - Do male birds intercept and use rival courtship calls to adjust paternity protection behaviours?

AU - Matessi, Giuliano

AU - McGregor, Peter Kenneth

AU - Peake, Thomas More

AU - Dabelsteen, Torben

N1 - Keywords: COMMUNICATION NETWORKS; SEXUAL SELECTION; EXTRA-PAIR COPULATION; EAVESDROPPING; COURTSHIP DISPLAYS; PLAYBACK EXPERIMENTS

PY - 2005

Y1 - 2005

N2 - Abstract:We tested whether male rock sparrows (Petronia petronia) change behaviours directed at their females when played back courtship display calls simulating a potential cuckolding event in the vicinity of their nests. We compared the behaviour of males before, during and after such playback with the behaviour of males who received a control playback, territorial song. After playback of courtship display calls male rock sparrows increased the frequency of courtship displays directed towards their mate, as predicted, but not mate guarding. These results illustrate the interplay of reproductive and communication strategies, and extend our knowledge of how the social environment can affect within-pair dynamics.

AB - Abstract:We tested whether male rock sparrows (Petronia petronia) change behaviours directed at their females when played back courtship display calls simulating a potential cuckolding event in the vicinity of their nests. We compared the behaviour of males before, during and after such playback with the behaviour of males who received a control playback, territorial song. After playback of courtship display calls male rock sparrows increased the frequency of courtship displays directed towards their mate, as predicted, but not mate guarding. These results illustrate the interplay of reproductive and communication strategies, and extend our knowledge of how the social environment can affect within-pair dynamics.

M3 - Journal article

SN - 0005-7959

VL - 142

SP - 507

EP - 524

JO - Behaviour

JF - Behaviour

IS - 4

ER -