Pair-bonding in birds and the active role of females: a critical review of the empirical evidence

Over the recent years the role of females in maintaining or breaking the pair-bond in socially monogamous birds has received growing attention. Here, we review the overall evidence for a direct and predominant role of female behaviour in initiating or preventing divorce and its relevance for the und...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Behavioural processes 2000-10, Vol.51 (1), p.83-92
Main Authors: Cézilly, Frank, Préault, Marina, Dubois, Frédérique, Faivre, Bruno, Patris, Bruno
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Aves
Avian monogamy
Better option hypothesis
Divorce
Female-female aggression
Mate-fidelity
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Summary:Over the recent years the role of females in maintaining or breaking the pair-bond in socially monogamous birds has received growing attention. Here, we review the overall evidence for a direct and predominant role of female behaviour in initiating or preventing divorce and its relevance for the understanding of both interspecific and intraspecific variation in divorce rate in monogamous bird species. The evidence is so far limited to a few species. We discuss the relevance of some alternative explanations and confounding factors. We conclude that the possible predominance of females in both initiating divorce or limiting its occurrence deserves further consideration. Future studies should favour experimental approaches, such as mate-removal experiments.
ISSN:0376-6357
1872-8308
DOI:10.1016/S0376-6357(00)00120-0