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\title{PLOS Science Wednesday: Hi Reddit, we're Drs. Malika Ihle, Wolfgang
Forstmeier and Prof. Bart Kempenaers, behavioural ecologists here to
discuss the fitness benefits of love\ldots{} in birds -- Ask Us Anything}



\author[1]{PLOSScienceWednesday }%
\author[1]{r/Science AMAs}%
\affil[1]{Affiliation not available}%


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  \date{April 24, 2026}


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\begin{abstract}
Hi Reddit, I am Dr. Malika Ihle and I am currently a post doctorate
researcher at the University of Sheffield in the UK. I conducted my PhD
at the Max Planck Institute for Ornithology (MPIO, Germany), under the
great supervision of Dr. Wolfgang Forstmeier and Prof Bart Kempenaers,
who will both be joining me today! Prof. Bart Kempenaers is the director
of the MPIO and head of the Department of Behavioural Ecology and
Evolutionary Genetics; Dr. Wolfgang Forstmeier is a researcher in this
department, principal investigator of the evolution of sexual behaviour
in zebra finches. We are all researching why and how female birds choose
their partner, on what criteria, and also why some females are faithful
to their partner while others are not. We recently published an article
titled ``The fitness benefits of mate choice for compatibility in a
socially monogamous species'' in PLOS Biology. We wanted to understand
why female zebra finches differ in their mating preferences: do they
pick compatible partners instead of high-quality ones? We compared the
reproductive success of birds that bred with their chosen partner, to
the fitness of birds that were forced to pair with the chosen partner of
another bird. We found that individuals of chosen pairs had 37 percent
more offspring than individuals of assigned pairs, not because they were
genetically more compatible but because they were behaviourally more
compatible: they were better at rearing chicks together. Individuals of
chosen pairs were also more faithful to each other; females were more
inclined to mate with their chosen partner, and males were more willing
to invest into paternal care. Overall, it seems that each specific bird
was, rather idiosyncratically, attracted and stimulated by their
specific favourite mate, a phenomenon that some people might more
commonly call love. In this case at least, `love' did have fitness
consequences. We will be answering your questions at 1pm EST (10am PST,
6pm UTC) -- Ask Us Anything! Want to read about all the interesting
results in an inspiring literary form? Read the synopsis written by PLOS
Biology editor Roland Robert: ``The fitness benefits of love''. Want to
be able to explain the study to your friends, family or children? Read
my PLOSAble article ``Benefits of being choosy''.%
\end{abstract}%



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