Factors affecting conditional expression of male preferences
This research project focuses on understanding flexibility in female behavioral responses to males. The study will use house sparrows, Passer domesticus, as the subjects in several aviary and field experiments. Aviary experiments will test predictions about the impact of male aggressive tendencies, social familiarity and status, as well as morphological and behavioral traits on a female's choice of a partner. Field data will uncover the impact of these factors on social status, general breeding success, and parental behavior. A cross-fostering study will help establish the level of genetic influence on behavioral and morphological traits involved in male-female interactions.
This project is significant at several levels. First, it will help lead to better theory for the evolution of breeding preference strategies. Second, it will uncover some of the implications of flexibility in females for behavioral evolution. Finally, this project will investigate the influence of social interactions between males and females on the development of female behavior. A general understanding of the development of gender specific behavior and the effects of social behavior between males and females on development has important implications understanding a variety of biological questions about gender specific evolutionary processes.
