Yes, it is possible to have multiple fathers fertilize a clutch of eggs. Genetic analysis is becoming more common today with many studies investigating this and finding that many females, although appearing to be devotedly mated to a male, seek other males for extra-pair copulations. This results in one or more males fathering some of the offspring. Many articles have been published recently in journals (last 10- years or so) describing this.

Jeff Kozma

Yakima

j c r underscore 5105 at charter dot net


----- Original Message -----
From: Megan Lyden
To: tweeters at u.washington.edu
Sent: Tuesday, June 29, 2010 1:18 PM
Subject: [Tweeters] duck question




Hi Tweets,



Are some of the eggs in a duck's clutch fertilized by one male, and some by another? Could a clutch of eggs have been fertilized by many fathers?



Megan L

Bellevue WA



Probably a dumb question, but I don't have a biology background.



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