Superb fairy-wren
ANU - Faculty of Science - School of Botany and Zoology
Superb fairy-wrens
In a strong collaborative partnership with Professor Andrew Cockburn we have investigated sexual selection and cooperative breeding in a population of superb fairy-wrens (Malurus cyaneus). This species is the least faithful of all birds and about 5% of males sire over 50% of the offspring each year. We recognised that females identify ‘good’ males by their ability to moult early into their bright-blue, breeding plumage and females seek extra-pair copulations from these high quality males during pre-dawn forays away from their own territory. However, it is difficult to understand what females gain from copulating with these early-moulting males. Current popular hypotheses would suggest that early-moulting males exhibit ‘good genes’ and that the female’s own offspring will inherit high viability. This work is ongoing but our preliminary data analysis provides no support for this theory and offspring sired by ‘good’ males do not fare any better than those sired by males that moulted later in the season.
Photo by Daniel Ebert
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