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Singing strategies among male Black‐browed Reed Warblers Acrocephalus bistrigiceps during the post‐fertile period of their mates
Author(s) -
HAMAO SHOJI
Publication year - 2008
Publication title -
ibis
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.933
H-Index - 80
eISSN - 1474-919X
pISSN - 0019-1019
DOI - 10.1111/j.1474-919x.2008.00803.x
Subject(s) - acrocephalus , polygyny , singing , warbler , demography , population , biology , mating , zoology , ecology , management , sociology , habitat , economics
Bird song is critical to mate attraction. Because singing involves fitness costs, males that sing vigorous and complex songs are thought to be of high quality. Males of the Black‐browed Reed Warbler Acrocephalus bistrigiceps sang actively when they were solitary, but stopped singing as soon as they had attracted a female. Males exhibited two distinct patterns of singing behaviour after the fertile period of their mates: some resumed singing, whereas others did not. Males that resumed singing acquired secondary females more frequently than those that did not sing, suggesting that resuming males seek polygynous mating. The occurrence of extra‐pair fertilization was rare (6.4%) in the study population, and extra‐pair young were sired by both resuming and non‐resuming males. There is no strong evidence that non‐resuming males compensate for their disadvantage in social mate acquisition by extra‐pair paternity. Resuming males arrived at the breeding ground earlier, suggesting that they were high‐quality males.