A study published in the journal Nature Communications authored by Javier Sierro discovered that the successful male blue tit chasing a female sex was persistent in repeating their call and also able to switch to a different tune and then repeat it consistently, too. There appears to be two elements to success in attracting a mate: repetition (i.e. persistence in human terms as I see it) and changing tack (changing the M.O.).
The quality of the sound produced appears to be less important. In the human world, by convention it is normally the male who chases the female. This appears to be because females are told that if they chase males they will be perceived as a slut and desperate. Sadly, a lot of males would prefer it if females chased them because there is a great burden on the male to chase females and to face up to many rebuttals.
But that is the convention. And it seems to me that the world of blue tits somewhat mirrors the world of humans in eliciting a successful response from the female and going forward.
In the world of blue tits, according to Javier, “The male is ready to have sex whenever, it’s a matter of convincing the female.” Personally, I see the same behavior in pigeons daily. Males chasing females and females rebutting them and I guess eventually giving in.
The female engages in a duet with the male. He said that repetition is common among many species of birds. And perhaps females are attracted to repetition because it indicates that the male is fit and has strong neuromotor skills. In short, the male will be a good father and produce strong offspring.
The same might apply and probably does apply to humans. There are other indicators of fitness in men which appeals to females but it would appear that persistence in chasing a female and then perhaps changing the method in mirroring blue tits may be the most successful method.
For the study, he and his colleagues went into the woods. They used binoculars to identify individual males and recorded their songs. They then watched for their reproductive success.
The males who were the best at hitting the same notes fathered larger clutches suggesting that repetition is a relevant trait to success.
They tested the theory. They used speakers and played but blue tit songs and observed what enticed the females out of the woods in using their “copulation solicitation call”.
They found that the sexiest songs were those that were repeated consistently but when the females became habituated to them the males changed their tune and repeated it consistently too at which time the females were aroused and responded with that all-important “copulation solicitation call”!
