# INFERTILE BIRDS **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [August 20, 2001, 6:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/infertile-birds/77196 "2001-08-20T18:11:12Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![laurah](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/d07c76/32.png) [@laurah](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/laurah)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2001, 6:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/infertile-birds/77196/1 "2001-08-20T18:11:12Z")
In socially monagamous birds, if the incubated eggs do not hatch after a number of seasons, does the pair split or accomodate by other means, stealing chicks for instance? ---
**Author:** ![curwin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f05b48/32.png) [@curwin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/curwin)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2001, 6:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/infertile-birds/77196/2 "2001-08-20T18:37:46Z")
Is this some highly veiled reference to the moderators? ---
**Author:** ![bibliophage](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bibliophage/32/7615_2.png) [@bibliophage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bibliophage)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2001, 6:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/infertile-birds/77196/3 "2001-08-20T18:42:49Z")
Welcome to the SDMB, **laurah**. The ATMB forum is for technical questions about the SDMB. You should read the forum descriptions on the SDMB homepage. This thread belongs in GQ, so I’ll move it. bibliophage, moderator, GQ [Edited by bibliophage on 08-20-2001 at 01:46 PM] ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2001, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/infertile-birds/77196/4 "2001-08-20T18:46:59Z")
Just listened to a documentary on NPR two days ago addressing the fact that so-called monogamous birds really aren’t. Apparently DNA studies have shown that over 60% of the offspring are from males other than their partners. This was presented on their “pet talk” or some such segment, featuring an internationally famous veterinarian or some such. ---
**Author:** ![ultrafilter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/3d9bf3/32.png) [@ultrafilter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ultrafilter)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2001, 6:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/infertile-birds/77196/5 "2001-08-20T18:51:52Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by bibliophage \* > \*\*Welcome to the SDMB, **laurah**. The ATMB forum is for technical questions about the SDMB. You should read the forum descriptions on the SDMB homepage. This thread belongs in GQ, so I’ll move it. > > bibliophage, > moderator, GQ > > [Edited by bibliophage on 08-20-2001 at 01:46 PM] \*\* Moving a thread and editing a post, huh? Looks like somebody’s drunk with power. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2001, 10:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/infertile-birds/77196/6 "2001-08-20T22:20:30Z")
Yes, it’s fairly typical that an established pair of birds will split up if they have several failed nesting attempts together. This way, a fertile individual paired with an infertile one won’t lose it’s entire reproductive potential. However, pairs may split up even if the nest failures had nothing to do with infertility - say, the nests were destroyed by predators. Regarding **Qadgop’s** comment, this is actually a very active field of study in ornithology. Most supposed “monogamous” species have been found not to be so in practice, and many offspring are the result of “extra-pair copulations” (or EPC’s in the jargon). Frequently, different eggs in the same clutch may have been fertilized by different males. This seems to be due to “bet-hedging” on the part of females, especially those that may be mated to less studly individuals. Such behavior could conceal infertility on the part of the male (though of course not on the part of the female). The percentage of EPC’s varies between species, and between individual females within species.