Updated

Updated · The New York Times · Jul 1

Female Mountain Chickadees Cheat for Smarter Males, Study Finds in 1 Songbird Species

Updated

Updated · The New York Times · Jul 1

Female Mountain Chickadees Cheat for Smarter Males, Study Finds in 1 Songbird Species

Q: How do female chickadees secretly test a potential mate's intelligence before deciding to cheat on their partner?

Scientists do not yet know that female chickadees use any specific “secret test” to judge a male’s intelligence before mating outside the pair bond. What the study shows is that females end up choosing males with better spatial learning and memory—the kind of intelligence that helps chickadees remember food-cache locations and survive winter. Those males sire more extra-pair young, and their offspring tend to be heavier and more likely to survive. The likely explanation is that females assess males indirectly in everyday life rather than through a single hidden test. Researchers suggest females may watch familiar males from their nonbreeding flocks and notice which ones are especially successful at recovering stored food. Because cache recovery depends on memory, that behavior could signal cognitive quality. Another possibility is that females use secondary cues, such as song or plumage, if those traits correlate with intelligence. The “smart feeder” tests described in the research were not used by the birds themselves. They were tools used by scientists to measure each male’s spatial cognition and then compare those scores with paternity results. So the evidence supports that females prefer smarter males, but the exact mechanism by which they detect that intelligence remains unresolved.

1 articles · Updated · The New York Times · Jul 1

A new eLife study found female mountain chickadees actively seek extra-pair matings with males that outperform their social mates on cognitive skills.
Better memory appears central to that choice: high-elevation males are known to be stronger at recalling food-cache locations, a trait critical for winter survival.
Researchers say that preference can boost reproduction because chicks sired by smarter males are more likely to survive.
Genetic work had already shown many mountain chickadee nests contain half-siblings, undercutting the long-held view that the species is strictly monogamous.

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The New York Times1d ago

Female Mountain Chickadees Seek Smarter Males, Cheat on Mates

How do female chickadees secretly test a potential mate's intelligence before deciding to cheat on their partner?

What becomes of the offspring from less intelligent males in an environment that so heavily favors smarts?

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The New York Times1d ago

Female Mountain Chickadees Seek Smarter Males, Cheat on Mates

Female Mountain Chickadees Cheat for Smarter Males, Study Finds in 1 Songbird Species

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