Non-kin infanticide is the killing of unrelated young by a conspecific adult, and occurs infrequently in some bird species. We observed a case of non-kin infanticide committed by a male Japanese Marsh Warbler (Locustella pryeri) in 2008. The sudden disappearance of a nesting male from his territory made the neighboring male expand his original territory to the vacant area where the unrelated nestlings were being reared by a female in the nest. The male found the nest and attacked the unrelated nestlings. We inferred that the infanticide sequence was done as food resource competition and/or sexually selected infanticide.
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20 June 2019
Non-kin infanticide by a male in the polygamous Japanese Marsh Warbler (Locustella pryeri)
Masao Takahashi,
Masayoshi Kamioki,
Keisuke Ueda
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The Wilson Journal of Ornithology
Vol. 131 • No. 2
June 2019
Vol. 131 • No. 2
June 2019
breeding territory
Marsh Grassbird Locustella pryeri
resource competition
sexually selected infanticide
video recording