Infidelity, Siblicide, and Survival of Blue-Footed Boobies
Blue-footed boobies engage in complex social behaviors. Despite apparent monogamy, both males and females are frequently unfaithful. Females control paternity and often produce extra offspring leading to intense sibling rivalry.
Sexual infidelity is almost universal in the “monogamous” pairs of blue-footed boobies, since females tend to have sexual relations with “extra” males, outside of the relationship with their “official partner,” explained the emeritus researcher of UNAM, Hugh Drummond Durey.
The above is one of the conclusions of four decades of intense observation on Isla Isabel (Nayarit) by the team of researchers from the Ecology Institute (IE) of the National University, headed by Drummond Durey, Sergio Ancona Martínez and María Cristina Rodríguez Juárez, who with the participation of numerous students and volunteers have ringed 23 thousand offspring to document the complete lives of the individuals.
