title: Sexual partner preference in female zebra finches: the role of early hormones and social environment.
abstract: This experiment investigated the effects of early estrogen treatment and sex composition of the social environment on sexual partner preference in female zebra finches, a pair-bonding socially monogamous species. Birds were injected daily with estradiol benzoate (EB) or the steroid vehicle for the first 2 weeks posthatch and then lived in either a unisex (all-female) or a mixed sex group from 40 to 100 days. After 100 days birds were implanted with testosterone propionate and given three kinds of tests: tests with a stimulus female, two-choice mate preference tests with male and female stimuli, and colony tests to assess pairing preference in a more naturalistic context. Both EB and unisex housing independently resulted in a preference for females (masculinized preference) in the two-choice tests, but only females with both EB treatment and unisex living were more likely to pair with females in the colony tests. Sexual partner preference, a key sexually dimorphic component of mate choice, appears to be organized by sex steroids in this pair-bonding species, but in a manner that may be mediated by the social environment.
authors.affiliation: Cornell University, Ithaca, New York 14853-7601, USA.
authors.forename: V
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Mansukhani
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Adkins-Regan
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Yang
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001717:Birds; D005260:Female; D012739:Gonadal Steroid Hormones / Q000502:physiology*; D008297:Male; D012726:Sexual Behavior, Animal / Q000502:physiology*; D012931:Social Environment
chemical_list: D012739:Gonadal Steroid Hormones