PARENTAGE ANALYSES IN THE PIED FLYCATCHER FICEDULA-HYPOLEUCA AT THE WESTERN BOUNDARY OF ITS CENTRAL-EUROPEAN RANGE

BRUN J WINKEL W EPPLEN JT LUBJUHN T

J. Brun et al., PARENTAGE ANALYSES IN THE PIED FLYCATCHER FICEDULA-HYPOLEUCA AT THE WESTERN BOUNDARY OF ITS CENTRAL-EUROPEAN RANGE, Journal fur Ornithologie, 137(4), 1996, pp. 435-446

35

TEDESCO

Article

Ornithology

Journal fur Ornithologie → ACNP

0021-8375

137

4

1996

435 - 446

ISI

0021-8375(1996)137:4<435:PAITPF>2.0.ZU;2-3

The study deals with the occurence of extra-pair copulations within a Pied Flycatcher population near Lingen/Emsland (52.27 degrees N, 7.15 degrees E) in northern Germany. As a whole, 31 Pied Flycatcher broods were investigated using oligonucleotide DNA fingerprinting. In 4 brood s (12.9 %) a sum of 9 nestlings were found to be due to extrapair copu lations of the females. Their proportion with regard to the total numb er of nestlings investigated (n = 165) amounts to 5.5 %. Integrating t he pairing status of males into the analyses a significant difference was found: Only one of 20 obviously monogamous males was cuckolded, wh ile for 3 of 7 bigyneous males' nestlings were identified that resulte d from extra-pair copulations of the females. The proportion of cuckol ded bigyneous males may be even underestimated, because in three cases the primary broods could not be investigated.