Context-dependent female preference for multiple ornaments in the bearded reedling

While it is well established that females prefer to mate with well-ornamented males, the influence of perceptive and cognitive processes on the expression of female mate choice is still poorly known. It has been suggested that the female perception of a male's attractiveness is not absolute, but depends on the other males with which he is compared that have been previously encountered (comparative evaluation). We investigated whether mate preference in bearded reedlings (Panurus biarmicus) is dependent on or independent of social context in relation to two different traits: beard and tail lengths. Each female had a choice between two to three males with different modifications of beard and tail. For each female, three different experiments were conducted (one binary and two trinary tests). We found that when females are presented with options that vary antagonistically with respect to two ornaments (binary test), some individuals prefer one trait while others the other trait. This indicates that in our bearded reedlings population exists a mate preference polymorphisms. Moreover, we found that the presence of a third stimulus, irrespective of the initial preference, reduced the strength of the initial preference - what we can call a preference dilution effect. Our results suggest that the female's choice may be constrained by her cognitive abilities when she is simultaneously presented with several options varying for two uncorrelated traits.