Dunnock
Sometimes when I was at the Jardin des Plantes, I saw sparrow-like birds called Dunnocks, who are in the accentor family. Dunnocks have an unusual polyandrous system of mating, with a female mating with multiple males. The males can copulate in a fraction of a second and do it more than a hundred times a day. Before copulating, a male will peck at a female’s cloaca, both to stimulate her and to remove the sperm of other males. Sometimes, multiple males will assist the female after she lays eggs.
Dunnock
Sometimes when I was at the Jardin des Plantes, I saw sparrow-like birds called Dunnocks, who are in the accentor family. Dunnocks have an unusual polyandrous system of mating, with a female mating with multiple males. The males can copulate in a fraction of a second and do it more than a hundred times a day. Before copulating, a male will peck at a female’s cloaca, both to stimulate her and to remove the sperm of other males. Sometimes, multiple males will assist the female after she lays eggs.