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RESEARCH PRODUCT

Polyterritorial Polygyny in the Pied Flycatcher

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Publisher Summary The chapter discusses on the evolution of polyterritoriality in Ficedulu hypofeuca species. It estimates the costs and benefits to males and females, and uses the results to evaluate current alternative polygyny models. This chapter also explains that secondary females raise fewer offspring that most likely are of poorer quality than offspring of monogamous and primary females. This is probably not because the secondary females are of lower quality than other females settling at the same time, but because one could not find any differences in age or morphology of simultaneously mated monogamous and secondary females. The main reason is that offspring raised by polygynously mated males receive less food as a result of the reduced male feeding assistance at such nests. Pied flycatcher females primarily utilize territorial cues rather than male characteristics when choosing a mate. This applies both to monogamous, primary, and secondary females.