The use of auxiliary courts by the lek-forming White-bearded Manakin Manacus manacus (Aves, Pipridae) |
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Authors: | César Cestari Marco Aurélio Pizo |
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Institution: | (1) Departamento de Zoologia, Universidade Estadual Paulista “Julio de Mesquita Filho” (Unesp), Avenida 24A, 1515, Bela Vista, Rio Claro, S?o Paulo, SP, 13506-900, Brazil |
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Abstract: | The White-bearded Manakin is a passerine specially noted for elaborate courtship. Each resident male has a cleaned oval court
delimited by saplings in leks. No study mentions the use of more than one court by a territorial male during the breeding
season. We report the use of auxiliary courts by males in the lowland forest of southeastern Brazil and discuss its probable
function in attracting females for mating. Additionally, we experimentally modified a male’s main courts, testing that auxiliary
courts serve as alternative display places. Twelve males from four different leks were observed for 145 h. Six males used
from one to four auxiliary courts located 1.0 to 8.1 m from their main courts. The males that also used auxiliary courts displayed
more than males that used only the main court. Nevertheless, the proportion of female visits per display time indicates that
males that used only the main court have greater efficiency in attracting potential mates. Individual males responded differently
to the experimental modification of their main courts, but one male avoided the modified court. The use of auxiliary courts
may be a strategy adopted mainly by peripheral males to attract females that visit more successful males with central territories
on the lek. In the short term, auxiliary courts function as optional display places in cases of loss of the main court. In
the long term, the use of auxiliary courts may be involved in the temporal persistence of lek areas. |
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