0000000000213443
AUTHOR
Eevi Karvonen
Why Do Black Grouse Males Perform on Lek Sites outside the Breeding Season?
Studies of sexual selection have focused mainly on explanations of how male characteristics influence mating success during the breeding season. By contrast, few studies have investigated how behaviours prior to the breeding season influence mate choice d
Female-female aggression and female mate choice on black grouse leks.
We studied female-female aggression in relation to female mate choice in black grouse, Tetrao tetrix, in central Finland, in 1994-1998. Aggression occurred on average every other minute when there was more than one female on a territory, and aggressive behaviour was most prominent when several females attended the lek. Interactions tended to be proportionally most frequent on the territories of the highest-ranking males, although not significantly so. Females that were chased by other females did not mate with lower-ranking males than their aggressors did. Furthermore, chased females were only rarely (6% of cases) forced to move off the territory by agonistic interactions and copulations we…
Combs and sexual selection in black grouse (Tetrao tetrix)
We studied supra-orbital combs in lekking black grouse (Telrao tetrix) in relation to sexual selection at five leks in Finland 1991-1998 and four leks in Sweden 1992-1995. Comb size was estimated in two ways: by observing its natural size in the field at