N. Verboven et Ac. Mateman, LOW-FREQUENCY OF EXTRA-PAIR FERTILIZATIONS IN THE GREAT TIT PARUS-MAJOR REVEALED BY DNA-FINGERPRINTING, Journal of avian biology, 28(3), 1997, pp. 231-239
Multilocus DNA fingerprinting was used to estimate the frequency of ex
tra-pair fertilizations in a low density, island population of Great T
its Parus major. A total of 69 pairs and 516 offspring from 82 breedin
g attempts were examined. Only 18 offspring (3.5%) in seven different
nests were not fathered by the attending male. The sample included one
brood in which all nine chicks were fathered by an extra-pair male. O
ne chick from a nest of eight was the result of intra-specific brood p
arasitism. Three chicks from a brood of nine could be matched with the
male but not with the female. Observations at this nestbox suggested
that mate switching had occurred during the laying period. The percent
age of extra-pair fertilizations did not differ between first clutches
and (experimentally induced) replacement clutches. Females mated to s
mall males were more likely to have extra-pair young in the nest. Beca
use both extra-pair paternity and intraspecific brood parasitism are r
are in this population, a reliable measure of reproductive success can
be obtained by counting the number of offspring.