Meeting Abstract
Organisms utilize a variety of mating systems in order to achieve high reproductive success. In monogamy, a male and female mate exclusively. Monogamy was once believed to be common among songbirds until further developments in genetic techniques demonstrated that social monogamy is more prevalent than true genetic monogamy (Barelli et al., 2013). In social monogamy, males and females form a pair bond, share resources and contribute to parental care of offspring. One or both members of the pair, however, may seek out extra-pair copulations (EPCs). Therefore, socially monogamous species may face a trade-off between parental behavior and EPCs. The dark-eyed junco, Junco hyemalis, is a socially monogamous songbird in which extra-pair paternity is prevalent (Ketterson et al., 1997). We investigated the relationship between parental and extra-pair courtship behavior of male juncos. To assess extra-pair courtship behavior, we stimulated the male to court a live, caged female using a playback of a female pre-copulatory trill and recorded all of the male’s courtship displays. To assess parental investment, we used a video camera to record the number of times a male fed his nestlings that were 6 days old. In contrast to our prediction of a trade-off between parental behavior and EPCs, we found no significant relationship between the intensity of extra-pair behavior and the number of times males fed their nestlings. One possible reason for failing to detect a trade-off between parental and courtship behavior may be variation in male quality, in which some males are better able to invest time in both parental and extra-pair behaviors. A larger sample and measures of male quality will be necessary before drawing final conclusions.
