MATING SYSTEM OF THE COOPERATIVELY BREEDING NOISY MINER MANORINA-MELANOCEPHALA, AS REVEALED BY DNA PROFILING

In this study we examined parentage within broods of the cooperatively breeding noisy miner using multi-locus DNA profiling. Previous studie s of noisy miners described them as highly promiscuous, leading to the suggestion that promiscuous mating behaviour was a tactic used by fem ales to recruit males as provisioners to their nests (Dow 1978). At ou r study site in south-east Queensland, Australia, we found that both m ultiple and extra-group paternity (i.e. a female mating with a male ou tside the group of male provisioners at her nest) were rare. In nests where multiple paternity was possible (i.e. clutch size > 1) 97% of 31 broods were sired by only a single male. Overall, 96.5% of all nestli ngs (n = 85) were the result of monogamous matings. Also, at the vast majority of nests, the male that sired the nestlings was also the main provisioner among all male nest attendants. Our results show that the mating system of the noisy miner can no longer be considered cooperat ive polyandry (Brown 1987) but is clearly genetic monogamy. We discuss the implications of this finding for understanding the complex social system of this species.