Female pied flycatchers choose territory quality and not male characteristics

Alatalo, Rauno V.; Lundberg, Arne; Glynn, Carolyn

doi:10.1038/323152a0

Cited by 390 publications

(211 citation statements)

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“…In other cases, females have been shown to choose mates deliberately on the basis of their territory quality, while ignoring male quality (e.g. Alatalo et al 1986;Warner 1987). Such a strategy may be profitable when the direct assessment of male quality is difficult or in species in which males provide little or no parental care.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A process of pair formation leading to assortative mating: passive age-assortative mating by habitat heterogeneity

Ferrer

Penteriani

2003

Animal Behaviour

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We present an individual-based model dealing with mating as a process of pair formation. Model simulations, based on data from a 19-year study of Spanish imperial eagles, Aquila adalberti, showed that the mating pattern of a population is not necessarily a direct consequence of the mating preferences of individuals; positive age-assortative mating, by which individuals of similar age are more likely to become paired, does not necessarily indicate homotypic mating preferences. For example, individuals of similar, young age may be constrained to a few low-quality territories, leading to passive assortative mating, independent of individual preferences. Confounding factors such as territory quality can affect the encounters between a male and a female available for mating, generating an age-assortative mating totally independent of mate preferences. Such a process may apply to many territorial species when spatial variation in territory quality is pronounced.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A process of pair formation leading to assortative mating: passive age-assortative mating by habitat heterogeneity

Ferrer

Penteriani

2003

Animal Behaviour

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“…Therefore, female preference for resource holders results in indirect mate choice (sensu Wiley and Poston 1996) on the male traits used in male-male contests, confounding with direct mate choice for the male traits (note that direct mate choice for the male traits should also be enhanced if it increases female fitness; Wong and Candolin 2005). Unfortunately, unlike the plumage characteristics I noted in the previous subsection, resources defended or provided by males are difficult to experimentally manipulate and, thus, it is much more difficult to exclude confounding effects from unmeasured traits than when studying plumage characteristics (though not impossible as it has been done in the pied flycatcher: Alatalo et al 1986). To understand how male traits (and female preference on the traits) evolved, researchers should take resources (e.g., territory) into account, possibly with experimental manipulation of resources.…”

Section: Resources Defended or Provided By Malesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Together with male plumage and song characteristics, territory quality is one of the most well-known female mate choice criteria in passerine birds (e.g., Alatalo et al 1986;Slagsvold 1986). Because barn swallows defend only a small territory (< 20 m 2 ) with few resources (i.e., nest and perch sites; Turner 2006), and because reproductive success does not depend on territory quality but on male quality (Møller 1994a), territory is thought to be unimportant in this species (Møller 1990, p. 463).…”

Section: Resources Defended or Provided By Malesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Beauty alone is insufficient: female mate choice in the barn swallow

Hasegawa

2017

Ecological Research

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The barn swallow, Hirundo rustica, is a model species for studying sexual selection, particularly female mate choice. Although there have already been several reviews of female mate choice and its geographic variation in this species, all of them have focused on secondary sexual characteristics. Here, for better understanding of the general pattern of female mate choice and their influence on male phenotype, I review all of the female mate choice criteria ever reported in the barn swallow, emphasizing the importance of relatively inconspicuous male traits. These include resources defended or provided by males, such as territory and paternal investment. In addition, females prefer a nestling-like vocalization, enticement call, which is particularly noteworthy because females prefer immature calls. This pattern contrasts with female choice based on secondary sexual characteristics, in which more mature, elaborate male traits are almost always favored. Nestling-like male traits are widespread, and thus female avoidance of, rather than preference for, mature forms might be common. In addition to selection on the target trait itself, these resources and nestling-like male traits would also matter in understanding the evolution of the overall male phenotype and its geographic variation, due to the interrelationships among male target traits and those among female mate preferences. Female preferences for inconspicuous traits are highly dependent on ecological factors such as nest predation pressure, and thus overall male phenotype including secondary sexual characteristics might be more predictable than previously thought. Future studies should focus on not only conspicuous secondary sexual characteristics but inconspicuous male traits.

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“…None excludes the possibility that females might also exercise some direct mate choice (Howard 1978;Pleszczynska 1978;Alatalo et al 1986).…”

Section: Varieties Of Indirect Mate Choicementioning

confidence: 99%

Perspective: Indirect Mate Choice, Competition for Mates, and Coevolution of the Sexes

1996

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Abstract.-When Darwin first proposed the possibility of sexual selection, he identified two mechanisms, male competition for mates and female choice of mates. Extending this classification, we distinguish two forms of mate choice, direct and indirect. This distinction clarifies the relationship between Darwin's two mechanisms and, furthermore, indicates that the potential scope for sexual selection is much wider than thus far realized. Direct mate choice, the focus of most research on sexual selection in recent decades, requires discrimination between attributes of individuals of the opposite sex. Indirect mate choice includes all other behavior or morphology that restricts an individual's set of potential mates. Possibilities for indirect mate choice include advertisement of fertility or copulation, evasive behavior, aggregation or synchronization with other individuals of the same sex, and preferences for mating in particular locations. In each of these cases, indirect mate choice sets the conditions for competition among individuals of the opposite sex and increases the chances of mating with a successful competitor. Like direct mate choice, indirect mate choice produces assortative mating. As a consequence, the genetic correlation between alleles affecting indirect choice and those affecting success in competition for mates can produce self-accelerating evolution of these complementary features of the sexes. The broad possibilities for indirect mate choice indicate that sexual selection has more pervasive influences on the coevolution of male and female characteristics than previously realized.Key words.-Darwin, male-male competition, mate choice, mating systems, sexual selection.Received September 18, 1995. Accepted September 21, 1995 Research has largely confirmed Darwin's (1859Darwin's ( , 1871 speculations about the influence of sexual selection on evolution. Although it required more than a century to settle many of the theoretical and empirical issues, most of the scope for sexual selection as described by Darwin is now widely accepted. Here we take the argument a step farther. By using recent clarifications of sexual selection and by introducing a new distinction, we show that sexual selection has ramifications for the evolution of sexual organisms that extend considerably beyond those originally imagined by Darwin and currently recognized.When introducing his theory of sexual selection, Darwin (1859) envisaged two distinct mechanisms. Sexual selection, he wrote, "depends ... on a struggle between the males for the possession of the females." As an alternative mechanism of sexual selection, he suggested that "female birds, by se-1 Corresponding Author. Present address:

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Female pied flycatchers choose territory quality and not male characteristics

Cited by 390 publications

References 13 publications

A process of pair formation leading to assortative mating: passive age-assortative mating by habitat heterogeneity

A process of pair formation leading to assortative mating: passive age-assortative mating by habitat heterogeneity

Beauty alone is insufficient: female mate choice in the barn swallow

Perspective: Indirect Mate Choice, Competition for Mates, and Coevolution of the Sexes

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