American White Pelicans Force Copulations with Nestlings

Christopher M. Somers; Victoria A. Kjoss; R. Mark Brigham

doi:10.1676/05-160.1

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Christopher M. Somers,^* Victoria A. Kjoss,^* R. Mark Brigham^*,**

^*Department of Biology, University of Regina, Regina, SK, S4S 0A2, Canada
^**Corresponding author; mark.brigham@uregina.ca

Abstract

We observed 56 forced copulation (FC) events in a breeding colony of American White Pelicans (Pelecanus erythrorhynchos) in Saskatchewan, Canada during the 2005 nesting season. All FCs were directed at nestlings >21 days of age that were not continuously attended by an adult. The onset of FCs occurred in close synchrony with an unexpected late-season increase in adult copulation attempts. We suggest that FC directed at nestlings is not simply an aberrant and non-adaptive behavior. Rather, copulations with nestlings result from adult male pelicans being inappropriately stimulated to copulate with nestlings when actually seeking copulations with adult females.

Citation Download Citation

Christopher M. Somers, Victoria A. Kjoss, and R. Mark Brigham "American White Pelicans Force Copulations with Nestlings," The Wilson Journal of Ornithology 119(2), 279-283, (1 June 2007). https://doi.org/10.1676/05-160.1

Received: 22 December 2005; Accepted: 1 July 2006; Published: 1 June 2007

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