Light Patterns as Cues for Mate Choice in the Lekking White-Throated Manakin (Corapipo gutturalis)
1995; Oxford University Press; Volume: 112; Issue: 1 Linguagem: Inglês
10.2307/4088773
ISSN1938-4254
Autores Tópico(s)Avian ecology and behavior
ResumoWe explored in an exploded lek species the relationships between three alternatives hypotheses for typical skewed male mating success: (1) female preference for display-site characteristics; (2) female preference for male phenotypic traits; and (3) mate choice determined by the outcome of male dominance interactions. The possible role of these mechanisms of female choice was examined in the White-throated Manakin (Corapipo gutturalis), a species in which males display on the top of mossy fallen logs lying on the primary forest floor. Data on light intensity at the display site, lek attendance, male calling and display rates, visits by males and females, and mating success were collected on six males at a single lek. The two males with the brightest two arenas received high rates of female visitation and performed 71% of the mating attempts. However, only one of them successfully copulated because the other male was always disrupted by visiting males. The results suggest that light properties of the display site and attendance of the male determine the attractiveness of male display to females, whereas male interactions subsequently mediate copulatory success. Brightness of the display site appears as the primary cue for mate choice in C. gutturalis, but this is not used by females as an indicator of the males' relative dominance because the dominance status of males is not correlated with the brightness of their display sites.
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