Mate Choice and Sexual Selection in Birds

This episode is all about how birds choose their mates and the evolutionary outcomes of those choices.

A lot of what we’re talking about today has to do with sexual selection, which is a special form of natural selection. 

In sexual selection, individuals compete for mates. This is when females and males choose their partners based on specific traits. Traits like plumage color or song, behavior, etc.

This choosiness has resulted in some spectacular features in birds. Many of the things we love most about birds are consequences of sexual selection.

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Links of Interest

• Video of Long-tailed Manakin Display

Link to this episode on the Science of Birds website

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