There is truth in advertising, at least in the bird world. Female birds judge a male by the number of songs he knows, and new research shows they’re on the right track. The larger the repertoire of a male song sparrow, the more physically fit he is, the stronger his immune system, and the more diverse his genes, researchers report online the week of 11 June in Proceedings of The Royal Society B. Because these advantages would be passed on to offspring, female sparrows do best when they listen before they leap into love.
ScienceNow
June 26, 2007
Original web page at ScienceNow