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To Beta or Not to Beta
Some male birds pair up to impress females
© Gérard Cuchet
Male Lance-tailed Manakins pair up to perform choreographed courtship displays for females. Known as cooperative courtship, it involves one alpha male and one beta male, who are not closely related, working together to attract the female. While it might not seem like a good deal for the beta male, the betas gain experience in courtship that could come in handy when they attain alpha status.
BirdNote®
To Beta, or Not to Beta?
Written by Anika Hazra
This is BirdNote.
In many bird species, the males sort themselves into higher and lower-ranking birds, known as alpha males and beta males. It may seem like beta males always get the short end of the stick, but could there be advantages to being second?
Male Lance-tailed Manakins are known to pair up — one alpha and one beta — and perform choreographed courtship displays for females.
[Two Lance-tailed Manakins calling]
This is called “cooperative courtship,” when the alpha and beta, who are not closely related, work together to attract the female. They even practice beforehand!
[Lance-tailed Manakins in courtship with female present]
The alpha always gets the girl…. So, what does the beta get?
Experience. A dedicated wingman gains skills in impressing potential mates that may come in handy once he becomes an alpha.
However, not all males serve as betas before attaining alpha status. Males that go through beta bootcamp have more success at the start of their alpha-tenure, thanks to their age and experience. But they don’t retain their alpha status longer than other alphas. And due to aging of these older alphas, opting in or out of beta training leads to roughly equal reproductive success across the male’s lifetime.
[Lance-tailed Manakins in courtship with female present]
So, to beta, or not to beta? For Lance-tailed Manakins, it remains the age-old question.
For BirdNote, I’m Michael Stein.
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Senior Producer: John Kessler
Producer: Mark Bramhill
Managing Editor: Jazzi Johnson
Managing Producer: Conor Gearin
Bird sounds provided by The Macaulay Library of Natural Sounds at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, New York. Lance-tailed Manakin ML65769 recorded by Paul A. Schwartz, and Lance-tailed Manakin ML7301 recorded by Eugene Morton.
BirdNote’s theme was composed and played by Nancy Rumbel and John Kessler.
© 2023 BirdNote March 2023
Narrator: Michael Stein
ID# LATMAN-01-2022-03-03 LATMAN-01
Reference:
https://besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/1365-2656.12057
Anika Hazra
Writer
