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Health
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2006-11-13 21:50:43-05
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Females may be attracted to males who sound more like them!
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Washington, Nov 14: The phrase opposites attract may hold true in the scientific world of magnetic theory, but it is not the case with female budgerigars who prefer to mate with members of the opposite sex that sound just like them. The study also found that males that paired with more similar-sounding females gave more help to the females when they were nesting. Biologists Marin Moravec, Professor Nancy Burley and Professor Georg Striedter conducted the study, which was published in Ethology in early November. Previous research showed that male budgerigars spontaneously imitate the calls of females that are potential mates. In addition, females were known to prefer males that had been trained to produce calls similar to theirs. The current study is important because it shows that female budgerigars preferentially pair with males that sound like them at their first meeting, before any imitation has occurred. A highly social, monogamous species, the budgerigar likely uses multiple aspects of vocalizations when choosing mates and maintaining long-term relationships. This study adds to the understanding of the social functions of vocal learning. It also provides an interesting avian example of a familiar mate choice strategy: choosing a mate with whom you have something in common.
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