Skip Navigation

This Article
Right arrow Full Text Freely available
Right arrow FREE Full Text (PDF) Freely available
Right arrow Lay Summary
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in ISI Web of Science
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Add to My Personal Archive
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrow Search for citing articles in:
ISI Web of Science (8)
Right arrowRequest Permissions
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Slagsvold, T.
Right arrow Articles by Lifjeld, J. T.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow Articles by Slagsvold, T.
Right arrow Articles by Lifjeld, J. T.
Social Bookmarking
Add to CiteULike   Add to Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us  
What's this?

Behavioral Ecology Vol. 12 No. 4: 412-418
© 2001 International Society for Behavioral Ecology

Do female pied flycatchers seek extrapair copulations with familiar males? A test of the incomplete knowledge hypothesis

Tore Slagsvolda, Arild Johnsenb, Helene M. Lampea and Jan T. Lifjeldb

a Department of Biology, University of Oslo, P.O. Box 1050 Blindern, N-0316 Oslo, Norway b Zoological Museum, University of Oslo, Sars gate 1, N-0562 Oslo, Norway

Address correspondence to T. Slagsvold. E-mail: tore.slagsvold{at}bio.uio.no .

In birds with biparental care, great variation exists in the frequency of extrapair paternity. Several hypotheses have been proposed to account for this variation. We tested the incomplete knowledge hypothesis, which states that females are constrained in their knowledge of male quality and that this influences their willingness to engage in extrapair copulations (EPC). By selective removal and release of female pied flycatchers Ficedula hypoleuca, we created a situation where females finally settled with a social mate close to the site where a former social mate was breeding. According to the incomplete knowledge hypothesis, this would lower the threshold for females to seek extrapair copulations in cases where their former social mate was of higher quality than the one finally chosen. The hypothesis was not supported because manipulation of female settlement did not increase frequency of extrapair paternity, not even in cases where the female nested close to the previous mate and the current mate apparently was of lower quality because he was younger and more dull colored. However, we found that when extrapair paternity did occur, the cuckolder tended to be a familiar male (i.e., the female's initial social mate).

Key words: cuckoldry, extrapair paternity, Ficedula hypoleuca, pied flycatcher, polygamy.


Add to CiteULike CiteULike   Add to Connotea Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us Del.icio.us    What's this?


This article has been cited by other articles:


Home page
 Behav EcolHome page
L. E. Johannessen, T. Slagsvold, B. T. Hansen, and J. T. Lifjeld
Manipulation of male quality in wild tits: effects on paternity loss
Behav. Ecol., July 1, 2005; 16(4): 747 - 754.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]


Disclaimer:
Please note that abstracts for content published before 1996 were created through digital scanning and may therefore not exactly replicate the text of the original print issues. All efforts have been made to ensure accuracy, but the Publisher will not be held responsible for any remaining inaccuracies. If you require any further clarification, please contact our Customer Services Department.