Sibling mating (1 Viewer)

[adrian james]

Do birds mate with siblings?

 

[KnockerNorton]

Do birds mate with siblings?

Not if they can help it.

 

[Andrew Rowlands]

Do birds mate with siblings?

Hi Adrian, I think that the answer is generally 'no'.

There seems to be something programmed into the genes whereby the sexes have a differing strategy to finding their own territories. I think that the male offspring return, after the post-breeding dispersal, to close to the natal area, whereas the female offspring seek mates much further away. (At least, that's my understanding of it - I may be very wide of the mark.)

Cheers,

Andy.

 

[Keith Dickinson]

I'm sure that I read somewhere that work with chaffinches indicated that there was noticeable differences in song between population areas, and that young males learn the 'accent' for their area. Young females tended pair up with birds that had a different 'accent'. This is one mechanism by which incest is avoided.

 

[adrian james]

Thank you for your responces.

 

[KnockerNorton]

I'm sure that I read somewhere that work with chaffinches indicated that there was noticeable differences in song between population areas, and that young males learn the 'accent' for their area. Young females tended pair up with birds that had a different 'accent'. This is one mechanism by which incest is avoided.

Wrong, i think. Females tend to like their own accent. That's how speciation occurs.

 

[KnockerNorton]

Hi Adrian, I think that the answer is generally 'no'.

There seems to be something programmed into the genes whereby the sexes have a differing strategy to finding their own territories. I think that the male offspring return, after the post-breeding dispersal, to close to the natal area, whereas the female offspring seek mates much further away. (At least, that's my understanding of it - I may be very wide of the mark.)

Cheers,

Andy.

It's very different for different species. If a juvenile of a non-migratory species has dispersed and found somewhere that it can survive the winter, then why would it leave it to chance it's arm on finding a new territory near the place where it was born? What if one parent had died - it would then be liable to pair with the other parent using your logic. See Jan-Ake Nilsson's work on Marsh Tit dispersal.