Avoidance of Relatively Aggressive Male Japanese Quail (Coturnix japonica) by Sexually Experienced Conspecific Females.

Abstract

Sexually experienced female Japanese quail (Coturnix japonica) that are offered a choice between 2 conspecific males previously observed engaging in an aggressive encounter prefer to affiliate with the less aggressive male. The authors determined whether this apparent preference for less aggressive males results from females approaching less aggressive individuals or avoiding more aggressive individuals. The authors found that females that had seen 2 males fight before choosing, in counterbalanced order, between each of them and a neutral stimulus were indifferent to less aggressive males but avoided more aggressive males. The results are consistent with the view that in species in which male courtship and mating are potentially harmful to females, females keep away from relatively aggressive males in order to avoid the physical punishment that can result from contact with them. Japanese quail have become an important species in laboratory studies of sexual behavior in general (e.g., Adkins-Regan, 1995; Balthazar, Tlemcani, & Ball, 1996; Domjan, Mahometa, & Mills, 2003) and in studies of the role of social experience in the devel- opment of females' mate preferences in particular. Recent studies have shown that the mate choices of female quail are influenced by prior observations of males interacting with either females (for review, see Galef & White, 2000) or other males (Ophir & Galef, 2003) as well as by direct interaction with males (Guitierrez & Domjan, 1997; Ophir & Galef, in press; Persaud & Galef, 2003). We are concerned with the finding that a sexually experienced female Japanese quail that observes an aggressive interaction be- tween two males and then chooses between them remains closer to the less aggressive of the two males (Ophir & Galef, 2003, in press). In previous experiments examining the affiliative behavior of female quail, Ophir and Galef (in press) offered females a choice between two males, one known to her to be more aggressive than the other. Consequently, the authors could not determine whether the female was choosing to approach the less aggressive or to avoid the more aggressive male. In general, such ambiguity in interpretation of the motivation underlying a choice between two items can be resolved only by examining separately the response to each item when individuals choose between that item and a neutral situation (Irwin, 1958). In the present study, we determined whether female quail tend to avoid aggressive males or to approach less aggressive males by examining separately the responses of female quail to each mem- ber of a pair of males that they had previously observed engaging in an aggressive interaction.