Brown-headed Cowbird (Molothrus ater) Science Article 2
abstract
In four large aviaries, we studied social assortment and reproductive behaviour of female brown-headedcowbirds housed with males differing in age class and in corresponding levels of intrasexual interaction.Juvenile and adult females resided with either (1) adult males, (2) juvenile males, (3) adult and juvenilemales, or (4) no males. We observed social behaviour of males and females from September 1999 throughto the 2000 breeding season. Throughout the year, males in the different conditions showed differentlevels of social interaction, with adult males being most engaged in male-male interactions and juvenilemales being least engaged in male-male interactions
MEREDITH J. WEST, DAVID J. WHITE and ANDREW P. KING, ANIMAL BEHAVIOUR, 2002, 64, 377-385