Can male sparrows sense when their mates stray?

Male sparrows can tell when their female partner is cheating on them, scientists claim.

Sparrows are normally monogamous but, just as with humans, female sparrows can sometimes be tempted to mate with ‘fitter’ males.

But if a male sparrow suspects his partner is having an affair he punishes her.

The male, known as a cock sparrow, will provide less food to the family brood – which perhaps is unsurprising as he may not be the father to all the chicks in the nest.

His suspicions are aroused if the female, or hen, is making long trips outside of the nest – leading to suspicions he has not sired the chicks.

Lead scientist Dr Julia Schroeder, said: ‘Males changed their behaviour based on their partner

‘When they switched from a faithful partner to one prone to infidelity, they provided less food for their brood.

‘If chicks were switched into a nest where the female was faithful, then the father at that nest kept up his hard work providing for the chicks, suggesting they have no mechanism, such as smell, to determine which chicks are theirs.

‘Instead, the males may use cues from the female’s behaviour during her fertile period – for example how long she spends away from the nest.

The team studied 200 male and 194 female sparrows over 12 years, recording the DNA profile of every bird and tracking the family history of their hatchlings.

In this way the researchers were able to determine which females were the most unfaithful.

Experts believe female sparrows tend to cheat with ‘fit’ males of better genetic quality in order to have stronger offspring.

Source: Daily mail

N.H.Kh