MATE SELECTION IN THE ZEBRA FINCH, POEPHILA GUTTATA: THE RELATIONSHIP OF SPECIFIC HORMONE DEPENDENT MALE BEHAVIORS TO FEMALE CHOICE.
Item
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Title
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MATE SELECTION IN THE ZEBRA FINCH, POEPHILA GUTTATA: THE RELATIONSHIP OF SPECIFIC HORMONE DEPENDENT MALE BEHAVIORS TO FEMALE CHOICE.
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Identifier
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AAI8515659
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identifier
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8515659
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Creator
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SHERIDAN, KEVIN.
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Contributor
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Cheryl F. Harding
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Date
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1985
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Language
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English
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Publisher
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City University of New York.
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Subject
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Psychology, Psychobiology
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Abstract
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Because individuals birds vary in their quality as mates, it is critical to reproductive success that animals choose a mate rather than mate randomly. The most widely held view is that, because they invest more in reproduction, they make the final choice of a mate. The present investigation examined the role of male behaviors as criteria for female choice in a songbird, the zebra finch, Poephila guttata. In a series of experiments, three behavioral attributes of males, song, courtship dance, and nestbuilding, were varied to determine their relative importance. Triads of birds, a female housed between two behaviorally distinct males, were observed for a period of two weeks to determine female mating preferences. In the first experiment, the overall importance of male behavior to female choice was established; females preferred to mate with behaviorally intact males over males deficient in all three behavioral attributes. In the second experiment, females failed to reliably indicate a preference when given a choice between males equivalent in singing and nestbuilding, but differing in the frequency of courtship dances. The failure of females to make a choice was attributable to the fact that song equivalence was accomplished by muting both males and substituting playback for their song. In the third experiment, females preferred as mates males that sang, although these males couldn't nestbuild, over muted nestbuilding males, demonstrating the primary importance of song. However, when these females chose a male nestbox site for egg laying, the poor quality of the song male nests appeared to cause some females to switch their preference. In the final experiment, half the males received implants of an androgen, androstenedione (AE) raising their circulating hormone levels. Although the frequencies of behaviors of the AE males were not different from those of normal males, some measures of mate selection indicated that females perferred the AE treated males. This suggested that some other parameter of behavior may have been changed in the AE treated males, and was attractive to females. The possibility that female zebra finches may be able to detect the hormonal condition of males through their behavior was discussed.
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Type
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dissertation
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Source
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PQT Legacy CUNY.xlsx
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degree
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Ph.D.
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Program
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Psychology
