Promiscuity and parental behavior in birds are driven by demographics, not the other way around

New research shows that variation in mating behaviors, parental care and differences in ornamentation of the sexes in bird species is driven by demographics rather than vice versa. An international team of researchers from the UK, China, Germany and Hungary looked at 261 species of birds from 69 avian families, running statistical models to investigate the relationship between demographics, adult sex ratio (ASR), breeding behaviors and parental cooperation. Their findings are published in the journal Nature Communications.