Non-linear ascension in a reproductive hierarchy of the Blue Manakin (Chiroxiphia caudata)

Abstract

Blue Manakin Chiroxiphia caudata (Pipridae) has a lek mating system in which males cooperate in teams of two or more individuals for courtship displays to females. Males ascend through a dominance hierarchy to assume the rank of alpha male. Only alpha males copulate with females. In this study, we describe the ascension of a male to the alpha rank following the disappearance of the previous alpha male. The study was conducted in the seasonal Atlantic Forest of Southern Brazil. We observed nine banded males at two adjacent leks. The gamma male at the more successful lek also acted as an alpha male at a less successful lek 314 m away. Upon the disappearance of the alpha male at the more successful lek, the gamma gave up his alpha rank at the less successful lek and ascended to the alpha rank at the more successful lek, bypassing the beta male. Although a previous study suggests a strictly linear dominance hierarchy in C. caudata, with beta male ascending to alpha status, our results suggest that the rising to become the alpha male may be a more flexible and dynamic process than previously reported.