Summary
Polyterritorial polygyny in passerine birds, i.e., when already-paired males attract females in secondary territories, has been explained by male deception. Secondary females are assumed to make a poor choice, because they lack information about males' pairing status. To date, the deception hypothesis has focused mainly on the hole-nesting pied flycatcher. In this study of polyterritorial wood warblers, an open-nesting species, secondary females did not differ in number of fledged young compared with females of monogamous males, and they fledged even more young than primary females. Nest predation influenced the allocation of paternal care. Almost half of the secondary females had exclusive male assistance because nests of primary females were preyed upon.
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Temrin, H., Jakobsson, S. Female reproductive success and nest predation in polyterritorial wood warblers (Phylloscopus sibilatrix). Behav Ecol Sociobiol 23, 225–231 (1988). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00302945
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00302945