Do Female Black-Capped Chickadees Prefer High-Ranking Males as Extra-Pair Partners?

Previous studies have shown that some female black-capped chickadees (Poecile atricapillus) solicit copulations from males that rank higher in winter flocks than their social mates, and extra-pair paternity in nests occurs commonly enough to be considered a potential female mating tactic. This study...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Behavioral ecology and sociobiology 1998-07, Vol.43 (1), p.25-36
Main Authors: Otter, Ken, Ratcliffe, Laurene, Michaud, Denise, Boag, Peter T.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Animal ethology
Animal nesting
Aves
Biological and medical sciences
Bird nesting
Fathers
Female animals
Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology
Male animals
Mating behavior
Mothers
Otters
Parents
Parus atricapillus
Poecile atricapillus
Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry
Reproductive success
Vertebrata
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Summary:Previous studies have shown that some female black-capped chickadees (Poecile atricapillus) solicit copulations from males that rank higher in winter flocks than their social mates, and extra-pair paternity in nests occurs commonly enough to be considered a potential female mating tactic. This study uses blood samples collected in 1992-1995 from 58 families of black-capped chickadees to test whether females with extra-pair offspring have chosen extra-pair sires higher in social rank than their mates. Paternity was assessed with multilocus DNA fingerprinting in 1992-1994 nests and with microsatellite and single-locus minisatellite DNA typing in 1995 nests. Seventeen of 58 nests (29.3%) contained young genetically mismatched with their social father. In 11 of 15 cases where the identity of the extra-pair male was known, the extra-pair male was dominant to the social father. Using data from 29 nests located in 1994 and 1995 for which we had the most data on relative ranks of males, high-ranking males had greater realized reproductive success than low-ranking males as a result of extra-pair fertilizations. There was no significant difference between the number of nests containing extra-pair young of females mated to low-ranked versus high-ranked males. Two nests in 1995 contained young either genetically mismatched with both social parents (intraspecific brood parasitism) or, in one nest, genetically mismatched with the social mother but not the social father (quasi-parasitism). The implications of female strategies acquiring genetic benefits through extra-pair copulations are discussed.
ISSN:0340-5443
1432-0762
DOI:10.1007/s002650050463