Honest Advertising, Sexual Selection, Courtship Displays, and Body Condition of Polygynous Male Harriers

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Abstract
In polygynous Northern Harriers (Circus cyaneus) aerial displays reflect male body condition, and displays are therefore difficult to fake. The most vigorously displaying males attract the largest harems, and such displays are an accurate measure of a male''s potential to provision their mates (the single most important influence on female fecundity). Whether females preferentially pick intensely displaying males because they are in better condition or because vigorous displays are associated with higher provisioning rates is unknown, but evidence suggests that both condition and provisioning are important mate-choice cues. I conclude that sexually selected behavior in harriers is largely consistent with the honest-advertising hypothesis.