The risk of brood parasitism does not affect levels of extrapair paternity in a cuckoo host

The risk of brood parasitism may be expected to affect the costs and benefits of extra-pair copulations in host species, and thus levels of extra-pair paternity. Nonetheless, through a mix of filed observations and experimental manipulations in a population of Daurian redstarts, we found no relationship between parasitism risk and levels of extra-pair paternity. This suggests that in this species, the risk of brood parasitism does not impact the occurrence of extra-pair paternity.

Photo by Jinggang Zhang

(Zhang, Santema, Wang, Lin, Yang, Yan, Li, Deng, and Kempenaers 2024)

References

Zhang, J., P. Santema, H. Wang, Z. Lin, L. Yang, D. Yan, J. Li, W. Deng, and B. Kempenaers. 2024. The risk of brood parasitism does not affect levels of extrapair paternity in a cuckoo host. Behavioral Ecology 35.