Journal
BEHAVIORAL ECOLOGY AND SOCIOBIOLOGY
Volume 73, Issue 12, Pages -Publisher
SPRINGER
DOI: 10.1007/s00265-019-2771-z
Keywords
Extra-pair paternity; Wing loading; Flight ability; Nest building costs; Female traits
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Funding
- Spanish 'Ministerio de Ciencia, Innovacion y Universidades' [CGL2013-48193-C3-3-P, CGL2017-83843-C2-1-P]
- FPI grant from 'Ministerio de Ciencia, Innovacion y Universidades'
- Fundacion Ramon Areces
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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 prediction, 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 increase in mass and thereby wing loading and this was translated into a significantly higher EPP in the manipulated group compared with the control group as expected. There was also a significant negative relationship between EPP and laying date and the extent of the white wing patch, an index of female dominance. More body reserves at laying mean not only a higher potential fecundity but a higher level of EPP as well. This interaction had not previously received due attention but should be considered in future studies of avian breeding strategies.
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