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Cere Colour as a Basis for Extra‐pair Preferences of Paired Male Budgerigars ( Melopsittacus undulatus : Psittacidae: Aves)
Author(s) -
Baltz Aliza P.,
Clark Anne B.
Publication year - 1996
Publication title -
ethology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.739
H-Index - 74
eISSN - 1439-0310
pISSN - 0179-1613
DOI - 10.1111/j.1439-0310.1996.tb01108.x
Subject(s) - melopsittacus , budgerigar , biology , mate choice , psychology , zoology , mating
Male budgerigars may be limited in the time they have available to pursue extra‐pair copulations because of conflicts with other reproductive behaviour. If males could selectively court only immediately fertilizable extra‐pair females they should do so. The cere colour of a female budgerigar may be used as a cue to her reproductive readiness. We experimentally tested the hypothesis that males prefer females with dark ceres, which are indicative of developed ovaries, over females with light‐coloured ceres, characteristic of birds with undeveloped ovaries. In a pairwise choice experiment between females that had their cere colour artificially manipulated, pair‐bonded males were more likely to choose the female with the dark‐coloured cere.