Your cheating heart

Female faithfulness linked to male singing ability in chickadees

source: New Scientist May 11 2002 p27

A researcher from Queen’s University, Ontario, has found that female chickadees, which are usually monogamous, appear more likely to be promiscuous if their mates lose song contests. The researcher played song recordings to chickadees, so it appeared that another male was competing with the resident male. If the recording was played in an aggressive way, with the timing and pitch matching those of the resident male, the resident was less likely to be the father of chicks born to his partner.
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