The application of molecular genetic techniques has revolutionized our view of avian mating
systems. Contrary to prior expectations, birds are only very rarely sexually monogamous …

The aim of this review is to consider the potential benefits that females may gain from mating
more than once in a single reproductive cycle. The relationship between non-genetic and …

One hundred years after Darwin considered how sexual selection shapes the behavioral
and morphological characteristics of males for acquiring mates, Parker realized that sexual …

Birds show bewildering diversity in their life histories, mating systems and risk of extinction.
Why do albatrosses delay reproduction for the first 12 years of their life while zebra finches …

Variation in the extent of sexual dimorphism among bird species is traditionally attributed to
differences in social mating system. However, there are many different forms of dimorphism …

Carotenoids are a large group of more than 500 different biochemicals synthesized by
bacteria, fungi, algae and plants. Higher animals obtain these biologically active pigments in …

The notion that men are more variable than women has become embedded into scientific
thinking. For mental traits like personality, greater male variability has been partly attributed …

Møller and Birkhead (1992, 1993) reported that extra-pair copulations (EPCs) occur more
frequently in colonial than dispersed nesting birds. We comprehensively reviewed published …

Females of many species choose to mate with old rather than young males, possibly
because older males pass superior genes on to their offspring. Recent theoretical and …

We investigated the signaling function of blue plumage in male blue grosbeaks (Guiraca
caerulea) to determine if structurally based coloration may act as a reliable signal of quality …