Extra-pair paternity, intraspecific brood parasitism, quasi-parasitism and polygamy in the Red-footed Falcon (Falco vespertinus)

Abstract

Based on the genotyping of 97 chicks and 74 adults from 37 families we describe extra-pair paternity (EPP), intraspecific brood parasitism (IBP), quasi-parasitism (QP) and polygamy in the Red-footed Falcon Falco vespertinus. The frequency of chicks resulting from EPP was 2.06% affecting 2.70% of families (two chicks, one nest), the values for IBP were 1.03% and 2.70% for offspring and families, and the same values were detected for QP (each one chick in one nest). Altogether, 4.12% of offspring and 8.11% of families were affected by some of the alternative reproductive strategies. As far as we know, this is the first described case of QP in the genus Falco.