An automated technique for the study of cyclic fluctuations in sexual motivation in an avian species

Diurnal fluctuations in sexual behavior occur in freely interacting pairs o f male and female birds. These fluctuations are difficult to interpret beca use they may reflect fluctuations in the motivation of the male, the motiva tion of the female, or both. A method was developed to study the sexual mot ivation of male Japanese quail in response to a standard stimulus. Sexual b ehavior was elicited by a taxidermic model of a female quail in a squatting posture. Sensors beneath and in the back of the model served to detect whe n the male mounted and made cloacal contact with the model. The technique a llowed continuous recording of male sexual behavior under standard conditio ns. When males were maintained on a photoperiod with lights on at 0600 h an d off at 2200 h, sexual behavior peaked in the early afternoon, with a seco ndary peak just before lights-out.