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Field Playback Of Male Display Attracts Females In Lek Breeding Sage Grouse, Robert M. Gibson

School of Biological Sciences: Faculty Publications

Recent correlational studies of lekking sage grouse suggest that male vocal display attracts females. To test this hypothesis further, the natural displays of a territorial male were supplemented with the tape-recorded display of another reproductively successful individual. Significantly, more females approached the speaker's location on days when the recording was played, and also on nonplayback days immediately following a playback, than on other nonplayback days. Analysis of male displays indicated that females were responding to the playback itself rather than to changes in male behavior. The "after-response" following a playback suggests that some females present during a playback remembered its …