Experimental mate switching in pied flycatchers: male copulatory access and fertilization success

By making female birds pair successively with different males, and analysing the paternity of the eggs laid, it is possible to examine how a male's success in obtaining fertilizations is determined by the timing of his copulatory access to the female. Such an experiment is reported here with pied flycatchers,Ficedula hypoleucaMate switching was induced at different stages within the female’s fertile period by removing the resident male. The paternity of the clutch was analysed by microsatellite DNA typing. Removed males had full paternity in the clutch if they were removed as late as after the second egg was laid (day 1), and they lost all paternity if they were removed more than 1 day before the first egg was fertilized (less than day −2). Male switching during the period day −2 to day 1 always resulted in mixed paternity in the clutch. Males that were paired to the female for only a few (1–3) days during this period achieved on average more than one fertilization per access day, with a peak on day −1. Thus, assuming that the timing of observed pair bonds reflects the timing of each male’s copulatory access to the female, the first eggs in the laying sequence were fertilized by inseminations occurring shortly before the time of fertilization, whereas the last eggs were fertilized by inseminations taking place several days prior to their fertilization. Our documentation of the most important period for copulatory access has some important implications for understanding sexual behaviour in this species.