I was checking up on the local Orchard Oriole at Shoe Pond in Beverly this
afternoon, and watched him as he sang. After a little while, he hopped down
a bit, and started chasing a second male, that I hadn't seen before. (I've
seen at least one male five times in five tries.)

This got me wondering: in species with relatively low breeding density,
which I imagine describes Orchard Orioles in Massachusetts, does the
presence of singing males actually *attract* other males?

If I were a lonely OROR male (I'm not saying I am), I think I'd want to spy
on singing males, to see whether they'd attracted any females, on the
premise that a female that I'd have to fight for is better than no female at
all.

This almost seems like a no-brainer, but I haven't heard it before. Does
anybody know whether any research has been done on this question?

There is also a follow-up question, and that is, if a male of a low-density
species has succeeded in attracting a female, does it pay him to shut up at
some point, whether after mating, after eggs have been laid, etc., so as not
to attract competition? It might not mean anything, but I noticed that
before today, I'd only heard the male(s) that I'd seen sing once, and that
was on the first sighting.

Jim McCoy
Marblehead, MA
jfmccoy at hotmail.com