Sexual conflict on determining breeding timing resulted from extra-pair mating.

(A)我们发现，雄性守卫行为的高峰期出现在它们产卵前的几天。当与喉咙有小红色斑块的雄性交配时(这意味着从生存的角度来看，雄性传递了相对较差的基因)，雌性逃避它们的雄性伴侣，寻找额外的配偶。事实上，这样的雌性后代中有额外的配对后代。然而，男性守卫的强度与他们喉咙的大小或女性不忠的程度无关。雄性的供养努力与雌性的不忠程度呈负相关。(B)三对雄鸟粪便中的睾酮水平在产蛋期前几天达到峰值，这表明这种激素水平可能会影响雄性和雌性的交配行为。

(a) We found that the peak of mate guard behavior by males several days before laying date of their pairs. When mating with males having small red patch size in their throat(that means the male convey relatively inferior genes in the perspective of survival), the females escaped from their male mates and sought extra-pair mates. Actually the broods of such females contained extra-pair offspring. However, the intensity of male mate guards was not correlated with the size of their throat patch or the degree of female infidelity. Provisioning effort of males was negatively correlated with the degree of female infidelity.(b) Testosterone level in feces from three pairs peaked at several days before laying dates, which suggests that such hormonal level may affect mating behavior of male and females.