Polyamorous Woodpeckers?
[ Cute. -Thomas]
Biologist finds sexually liberated woodpecker
SASKATOON - Many birds are socially monogamous, but what the female North American woodpecker engages in has been found to be a little bit more liberated than others, according to a Saskatchewan biologist.
University of Saskatchewan biologist Karen Wiebe has documented the first case of a female woodpecker with more than one male mate.
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But DNA tests showed the female isn’t the only cheater.
Some chicks were related to the first male but not the female. That means he ran off to mate with a strange female and dumped the eggs in the nest without the first female suspecting, said Wiebe.
Adding more confusion to what she called a “fascinating and crazing breeding system,” Wiebe found some nestlings weren’t related to either parent.