Hi Tweeters,

Only one taker for my little quiz. The answers are
the Norther Jacana where the female defends a
territory for two or more males who incubate and tend
the young where the eggs are layed in the same time
frame. This is called simultaneous polyandry.

The other two birds like the Spotted Sandpiper are
Sanderling and Mountain Plover. I misquoted about the
Spotties incubating the second nest for the male, the
female might help with the second nest incubation but
won't do all the work unless the male dies. These
species breeding scenario is called sequential
polyandry (kind of like the human serial monogamy...)
where the female breeds with one male, lays the eggs,
then finds another male to breed with.

Other interesting female/male breeding is sometimes
the Harris' Hawks and Acorn Woodpeckers female will
breed with multiple males and the whole extended
"family" will raise the mixed parentage clutch. This
is called cooperative simultaneous polyandry.

So there is is your bird TMI (too much information)
for the day.



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