Abstract
Abstract. White-throated sparrows are dimorphic, mating disassortatively by morph. In laboratory choice trials, females of both morphs preferred tan-striped males when allowed to interact with males (two-way choice), but displayed no preferences when one-way mirrors did not allow stimulus males to interact with them (one-way choice). Males of both morphs displayed significant preferences for white-striped females in one-way choice trials, but not in two-way trials. During within-sex competition trials, white-striped birds were dominant to tan-striped birds of the same sex. These results suggest that negative assortative mating is maintained in part because white-striped females outcompete tan-striped females for access to the preferred tan-striped males. Tan-striped females then pair with the less preferred white-striped males. A three-step process is proposed to account for the high level of negative assortative mating seen in the white-throated sparrow.
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