Lack of subspecies-recognition in breeding Barn Swallows (Hirundo rustica transitiva)

Assortative social interactions based on (sub)species recognition can be a driving force in speciation processes. To determine whether breeding Barn Swallows Hirundo rustica transitiva in Israel behave differentially towards members of their own subspecies, relative to a different, transient subspecies H. r. rustica and two sympatrically breeding species (Sand Martin Riparia riparia and House Sparrow Passer domesticus), we conducted a territory intrusion experiment near active nests using taxidermy models. Females responded less to the models than males, and the patterns of the recorded behavioral response traits co-varied statistically with sub- or species identity of the models, but none showed patterns of response selectivity for con(sub)specific model types only. These results do not support a role for subspecies recognition in the territorial intrusion responses of H. r. transitiva.