Male wrens with large testes breed early

Abstract

To display to females, male wrens, Troglodytes troglodytes, use cock nests built on their territories. Nest building starts about a month before the first females begin egg laying. The timing of nest building is highly variable between males with up to 8 weeks separating the earliest from the latest males to initiate this display activity. Males that weigh more before the breeding season initiate nest building earlier than lighter males. We measured testis size in male wrens in the prebreeding period during which seasonal testicular recrudescence is occurring. The initiation of nest building was predicted by male age and by testis size. This suggests that variation in the start of courtship activity may reflect variation between males in the rate of testicular recrudescence. Variation in male prebreeding body mass was influenced by variation in testis size, which suggests that the relation reported earlier between body mass and timing of nest construction could be explained, in part, by variation in testis size. Alternatively, if body mass reflects body condition then both the extent of testes recrudescence and the timing of courtship activity could be condition-dependent traits.