An experimental increase in female mass during the fertile phase leads to higher levels of extra-pair paternity in pied flycatchers Ficedula hypoleuca

Abstract:

Abstract Female mass in most altricial birds reaches its maximum during breeding at egg laying, which coincides temporally with the fertile phase when extra-pair paternity (EPP) is determined. Higher mass at laying may have two different effects on EPP intensity. On the one hand, it would lead to increased wing loading (body mass/wing area), which may impair flight efficiency and thereby reduce female’s capacity to resist unwanted extra-pair male approaches (sexual conflict hypothesis). On the other hand, it would enhance female condition, favouring her capacity to evade mate guarding and to search for extra-pair mates (female choice hypothesis). In both cases, higher female mass at laying may lead to enhanced EPP. To test this pbkp_rediction, we reduced nest building effort by adding a completely constructed nest in an experimental group of female pied flycatchers (Ficedula hypoleuca). Our treatment caused an …

Año de publicación:

2019

Keywords:

Fuente:

google