Ecological constraints on extra-pair paternity in the bluethroat

The mating system of the bluethroat (Luscinia s. svecica) involves a high level of sperm competition, and consequently a high frequency of extra-pair paternity (EPP). There is considerable variation in the frequency of EPP. Over the course of ten study years in a population in Norway, the frequency has fluctuated between 7% and 33% of young, and 8% and 76% of broods. In this paper, we address the issue of whether ecological factors can explain some of the variation in EPP between years and broods. Factors include breeding density, breeding synchrony and two meteorological variables (ambient temperature and precipitation) during the period of peak female fertility. There were no significant relationships between annual averages of the four variables and the annual level of EPP, but the statistical power of these tests was low, due to a restricted sample (n=10 years). Focussing on individual broods, none of the factors had significant effects when including all broods in the analyses (including those with zero EPP). When limiting the analyses to broods with one or more extra-pair offspring, morning temperature had a significant effect on the frequency of EPP. When the temperature was low during the peak of the fertile period, EPP occurred less frequently. Male extra-pair behaviour was not generally constrained by synchrony between the fertile periods of the social mate and the extra-pair mate, but for a subgroup of males ("unattractive males") there appeared to be a trade-off between mate guarding and pursuing extra-pair copulations. Our results indicate that ecological conditions have no influence on whether or not a brood will contain extra-pair offspring, but when EPP does occur, its frequency is influenced by air temperature. Possibly, there is a causal relationship between weather conditions and the frequency of extra-pair encounters in this species. The breeding season is initiated at a phenologically early stage, when large parts of the territories are still covered with snow, and cold weather conditions may force the birds to devote most of their time to maintenance and thereby constrain sexual activities.