New tools for sex identification and the study of sex allocation in birds

The recent development of simple, DNA-based methods for the determination of an individual's sex will make possible large-scale studies of sex allocation and the consequence of gender in birds. Birds provide ideal systems for studying these questions in vertebrates, as so much is known about their basic biology and determinants of fitness. Until recently, however, little quantitative work has been possible because of the difficulty in determining gender in most cases. Recent studies suggest that biased sex allocation may be more widespread in birds than has been realized.