Divorce and its consequences in the Common Blackbird Turdus merula

Abstract

An urban population of Common Blackbirds Turdus merula was studied between 1995 and 1998 in the Botanic Garden in Bonn, Germany. The number of breeding pairs varied from 32 to 39 per breeding season. Mean divorce rate (pair separation with remating of at least one of the partners) between two breeding seasons was 19.3% and 5.1% within breeding seasons. The number of fledglings produced per breeding season, of pairs which subsequently divorced, was significantly lower than that of pairs that stayed together. Females, but not males, produced more fledglings in the season after divorce than with their former mates the year before, and as many as females of the same age in stable pair bonds. The increase in reproductive success was thus unlikely to be due to age effects. Nestling mass correlated positively with offspring survival to the following year. Females had heavier nestlings after divorce than in their former pair bond. There was no difference in nestling mass for males before and after divorce. The data were used to test the predictions of several hypotheses to explain divorce. Because divorce was more likely after low reproductive success in the previous year, and only females benefited, the findings best support the ‘better option’ hypothesis.