Randy red-backed fairy-wrens’ duets reduce cuckoldry

The courtship and mating behaviors of the perky Australian red-backed fairy-wren have evolved into nothing short of a free-for-all. The rampant promiscuity of both sexes is legendary. What's a fairy-wren to do to keep from wasting energy raising another male's chicks? New research from scientists at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology provides a surprising answer: Sing with your mate. "The result was not expected at all," said Daniel Baldassarre, Ph.D. '14, an author of the study published Feb. 24 in the journal Biology Letters. He was a Cornell graduate student at the time of the study and is a National Science Foundation postdoctoral fellow at the University of Miami.