Subject: [Tweeters] Polyandry
Date: May 16 13:54:42 2008
From: Kathy Andrich - chukarbird at yahoo.com



Hi Tweeters,

Not having the opportunity to observe Spotted
Sandpiper courtship behavior before last night I
decided to read the behavior section of the Birds of
North America (BNA) online account about them. I did
not know they were polyandrous which is where the
female courts the male and is larger than the male and
usually has more than one nest per year with different
males. I should have noticed the size difference the
time I did observe copulation a year or two ago but
did not. Usually the first nest of the year is
incubated by the first male and brooded by him. The
second nest fertilized by the second male is sometimes
but not always incubated and brooded by the female.
Interesting stuff.

There is your birding trivia for the day if you didn't
know this already.

Now a mini quiz--who knows what other bird species in
North America besides phalaropes that practice polyandry?

Kathy
Roosting in Kent, near Lake Meridian
(chukarbird at yahoo dot com)