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Primary sex ratios in zebra finches: no evidence for adaptive manipulation in wild and semi-domesticated populations.

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Abstract

When breeding diet is restricted, domesticated zebra finches,Taeniopygia guttata, produce male-biased primary and secondary sex ratios, but unexpectedly produce unbiased ratios when food is unrestricted. We investigated the primary sex ratios (at laying) of wild zebra finches in southeastern Australia in response to food supplementation and environmental factors predicted to enhance female breeding condition and to bias the primary sex ratio towards daughters. Molecular sexing of all nestlings in 54 complete broods where every egg hatched, failed to show any significant biases from random. Time of egg laying (month, season) and environmental conditions (rainfall, temperature) did not significantly predict variation in the primary sex ratio, but time of breeding did affect clutch size. Wild zebra finches at our colony did not bias their sex allocation as there were no differences in the primary sex ratio and no differences in the numbers and mass of sons and daughters at the end of parental care (day 35–40 post-hatch). Biases in primary sex ratio of our wild population are probably weak or non-existent possibly due to the unpredictable environment and/or multiple contrary selective forces acting on sex ratios. We also investigated the effects of photoperiod, biases in the adult sex ratio, and parental attractiveness on primary sex ratios of semi-domesticated, laboratory zebra finches. Molecular sexing of three-day old embryos from complete clutches, failed to reveal significant biases from random. In contrast to previous studies, sex of eggs did not correlate with laying order and egg mass declined with order, rather than increased. Domestication may be responsible for these differences.

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Acknowledgments

We are indebted to Phil Cassey and John Ewen for running the SAS regressions. The Danaher family kindly gave access to their farm for studying wild zebra finches. Terri Runciman and Eva Suric assisted with bird care and Terri Runciman helped with the molecular sexing. Neil Murray and Simon Goldsworthy generously provided equipment and facilities. John Ewen and an anonymous referee suggested important improvements to the manuscript. The Australian Research Council funded the project and approval for all animal procedures was given by La Trobe University (AEC permit 97/7(L)/V3) and the State of Victoria (Research Permit 10000647).

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  1. Department of Zoology, La Trobe University, 3086, Melbourne, Australia

    Richard Zann & David Runciman

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  1. Richard Zann
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  2. David Runciman
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Correspondence to Richard Zann.

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Communicated by I.R. Hartley

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Zann, R., Runciman, D. Primary sex ratios in zebra finches: no evidence for adaptive manipulation in wild and semi-domesticated populations.. Behav Ecol Sociobiol 54, 294–302 (2003). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00265-003-0632-1

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