Some guys have tells. Their girlfriends can hear a lie in the tone of their voice. That’s apparently just as true for humans as it is for male pied flycatchers, little songbirds that literally change their tune after finding a mate, a dead giveaway that females use to figure out whether a prospective mate is juggling another relationship.
According to Science News, citing a new study published in the journal Ethology, female flycatchers are surprisingly good at spotting this avian version of a player.
Male pied flycatchers don’t always settle down after pairing up. Once their first mate lays eggs, a lot of them will establish a second territory and start wooing other females in the hopes of attracting a second partner. As it is in humans, the catch here is that splitting time between two nests means they have less time to help raise chicks. Female catchers seem to be aware of this, knowing that males who have already mated won’t be around to raise their kids. It’s not exactly an appealing prospect.
Mated songBirds Have a Very Clear Tell in their voice, and Females Notice
Researchers from the University of Oslo recorded 17 male flycatchers before and after they found their first mate. They discovered that the birds’ songs got shorter and less repetitive once they started looking to shack up with a second mate.
To test whether the females noticed, researchers played recordings through speakers next to boxes nestled by the nest. 21 of the 29 females overwhelmingly preferred the songs recorded from unattached males. But then, when the scientists digitally edited the song to sound more like the tunes of already paired males, the females immediately lost interest. There was just something in the tone that suggested they were already taken.
The researchers suspect that the shorter songs might help the males avoid getting caught by the first mate, who has been known to fly over and chase away prospective rivals after recognizing her partner’s singing.
I’m framing all of this as bird adulterers because it’s funny how well it parallels human infidelity, but the researchers themselves were careful to avoid using a term like “cheater” since it makes them sound more devious than they are. This isn’t as scummy as some deadbeat loser essentially setting up franchises around town.
It’s just a bird following its bird instincts to maximize its reproductive success, unlike your local philandering guy with families in different area codes who is simply a heartless dumba— terrified of taking responsibility.
The post Male Songbirds Are Really Bad at Cheating on Their Mates. They Still Try, Though. appeared first on VICE.
