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Listen to a lecture in a sociology class, take detailed notes while listening.
divorce – a formal separation of husband and wife, or mates
initial – first
mate – the partner of an animal
monogamous – having only one romantic partner at a time
phenomenon – an observable, and sometimes remarkable, occurrence
Fill in the following diagram.
Theory
1.
Effect 1
Effect 2
2.
3.
Now answer the questions using your notes.
Divorce Among Blue Tits
Summarize the text using your notes and diagram.
- 1: A bigger female chases the weaker one from the territory.
- 2: Smaller female is forced to divorce her mate.
- 3: Invading female becomes new female of the nest.
Listen again:
M: You may think of divorce as a distinctly human phenomenon. However, divorce is also present among some species of socially monogamous birds. One such species is the blue tit, A recent study found an astonishing 50% divorce rate among blue tit mating pairs.
Now, when a pair of blue tits divorce, the male stays in the same territory he had before the marriage. It's the female that leaves the nest. In a divorce, she flies away in search of a new male and then lives in that new male's territory.
Okay, I know you're all asking this, so... why do blue tits sometimes divorce? Well, it was originally thought that females left their mates in search of a more attractive male. However, a recent study suggests quite a different reason. It appears that competition between females is the cause of divorce. What happens is a bigger female will chase a smaller, weaker female away from her mate. She will force the original female out of the male's territory, putting an end to the initial mating pair. The invading female will then become the new female of the male's nest.
