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Female mate choice based on territory quality in barn swallows

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Abstract

Female mate choice based on territory quality is difficult to study because territories often contain many resources, which are difficult to quantify. Here, using the barn swallow (Hirundo rustica gutturalis) breeding at an outdoor breeding site in Japan, where each male defends only a small territory containing old nests, we studied whether females choose social mates based on territory quality. Since the territories of this species contain few other resources, territory quality can easily be assessed by quantifying old nests in the territory. We made the following four observations: (1) male swallows displayed old nests in their territories to females; (2) the old nests used for the first clutch were less broken than the other old nests within the same territory; (3) territory quality, defined by the number of old nests weighted by the intactness of each old nest, predicted the productivity of the territory; and (4) males with better territories paired with females earlier, and hence bred earlier, than those with inferior territories. The relationships remained significant even after controlling for male morphological traits. Based on these results, we can infer that female swallows choose their mates based, in part, on territory quality.

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Acknowledgments

We are grateful to the residents of Joetsu City for their kind support and assistance. This manuscript benefited from comments by R.J. Safran. We also thank the members of the Laboratory of Animal Ecology of Joetsu University of Education and the Laboratory of Conservation Ecology of University of Tsukuba.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Graduate School of Life and Environmental Sciences, University of Tsukuba, 1-1-1 Tennoudai, Tsukuba, Ibaraki, 305-8572, Japan

    Masaru Hasegawa & Mamoru Watanabe

  2. Laboratory of Animal Ecology, Department of Biology, Joetsu University of Education, 1 Yamayashiki-machi, Joetsu, Niigata, 943-8512, Japan

    Emi Arai & Masahiko Nakamura

Authors
  1. Masaru Hasegawa
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  2. Emi Arai
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  3. Mamoru Watanabe
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  4. Masahiko Nakamura
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Correspondence to Masaru Hasegawa.

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Hasegawa, M., Arai, E., Watanabe, M. et al. Female mate choice based on territory quality in barn swallows. J Ethol 30, 143–150 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10164-011-0307-8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10164-011-0307-8

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