Jove
Visualize
Contact Us
JoVE
x logofacebook logolinkedin logoyoutube logo
ABOUT JoVE
OverviewLeadershipBlogJoVE Help Center
AUTHORS
Publishing ProcessEditorial BoardScope & PoliciesPeer ReviewFAQSubmit
LIBRARIANS
TestimonialsSubscriptionsAccessResourcesLibrary Advisory BoardFAQ
RESEARCH
JoVE JournalMethods CollectionsJoVE Encyclopedia of ExperimentsArchive
EDUCATION
JoVE CoreJoVE BusinessJoVE Science EducationJoVE Lab ManualFaculty Resource CenterFaculty Site
Terms & Conditions of Use
Privacy Policy
Policies

Related Experiment Videos

Divorce and asynchronous arrival in common terns, Sterna hirundo.

GonzáLez-SolíS1, Becker, Wendeln

  • 1Institut für Vogelforschung 'Vogelwarte Helgoland'

Animal Behaviour
|November 30, 1999
PubMed
Summary

Common tern divorce is best explained by asynchronous arrival, not mate choice. Synchronized arrival helps maintain pair bonds, while delays can lead to separation and lost breeding opportunities.

Related Concept Videos

You might also read

Related Articles

Articles linked to this work by shared authors, journal, and citation graph.

Sort by
Same author

Extract of Green Walnut Shells, in Chronic Congestion of the Tonsils.

Western journal of medicine and surgery·2024
Same author

Alfalfa Saponins and Their Implication in Animal Nutrition.

Journal of agricultural and food chemistry·2001
Same author

State of the journal: Global access: Annals looks to the future.

Annals of emergency medicine·2001
Same author

Reply from the authors

Kidney international·2001
Same author

Photochromic behavior of 2,2-spiro-adamantylidene-2H-naphtho

Photochemistry and photobiology·2000
Same author

Dysgeusia by Losartan in a Patient Intolerant of Captopril.

MedGenMed : Medscape general medicine·2000

Area of Science:

  • Ornithology
  • Behavioral Ecology
  • Animal Behavior

Background:

  • Divorce, or pair bond dissolution, is observed in various bird species.
  • Hypotheses explaining divorce include mate choice (better option) and incompatibility.
  • Asynchronous arrival on breeding grounds is another proposed factor influencing pair bond stability.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To determine which hypothesis—better option, incompatibility, or asynchronous arrival—best explains divorce in the common tern (Sterna hirundo).

Main Methods:

  • Assessed divorce rates in 150 common tern pairs over a breeding season.
  • Analyzed breeding performance, physical condition, mate quality, and age in relation to divorce probability.
  • Quantified arrival synchrony of paired individuals on breeding grounds.

Related Experiment Videos

Main Results:

  • No significant differences in breeding performance, condition, or mate quality were linked to divorce.
  • Divorce was significantly more likely in pairs with asynchronous arrival (median 7.5 days vs. 2 days for reunited pairs).
  • Pairs with arrival asynchrony exceeding 16 days invariably separated; ~20% of divorced birds lost breeding status.

Conclusions:

  • The better option and incompatibility hypotheses were not supported in common terns.
  • Asynchronous arrival, not active mate choice, is the primary driver of divorce in this species.
  • Synchrony in arrival facilitates pair bond maintenance, with divorce being a consequence of asynchrony rather than a deliberate decision.