First, the male's territorial behavior allows the female to feed and rest undisturbed when not on the nest, which enables her to acquire the necessary resources for egg laying and incubation. The degree of territoriality varies among species, but in all cases serves two primary functions. The paired male provides this protection by aggressively chasing away other males that intrude on his territory. Understanding the different reproductive strategies of paired and unpaired males has been of particular interest to biologists charged with surveying and estimating the size of annual waterfowl breeding populations.Ī male duck that successfully acquires and follows a mate back to the breeding grounds is primarily concerned with protecting her from harassment by other males of the same species. Due to monogamous mating systems and male-biased sex ratios, some drakes remain unpaired during the breeding season. Most of this continent's ducks are seasonally monogamous, meaning that one male and one female form a pair bond that lasts for only one year. This gender imbalance is mostly caused by higher rates of mortality suffered by females while nesting and brood rearing. In North America, nearly all duck populations consist of a higher proportion of males than females, with drakes constituting 55 percent of mallard populations and almost 70 percent of populations of diving ducks such as scaup. But male ducks and geese also play many important roles in waterfowl reproduction, some of which are surprisingly complex. That is understandable, given that females are largely responsible for egg laying, incubation, and brood rearing. When researchers study reproduction in ducks and geese, females usually receive most of the attention.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
Details
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |