Abstract
Courtship behaviour of mallard ducks breeding in a large pond was studied for 3 successive years. Five male attributes (body weight, sternum length, age, plumage status and social display activity) were measured. In addition, variation in male body condition was induced experimentally by providing males with either an unlimited or a restricted food supply for 5 weeks before observing courtship behaviour. A covariance analysis suggests that variation in all measured characters except body weight significantly affected female mate choice, accounting for 57% of the variance in the number of females to court each male. Females exclusively courted males in the group fed ad libitum and among them preferred individuals with a high social display activity, a high plumage status, a small body size and of intermediate age.
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