FEMALES SCORNED When males are in short supply, females can become fierce competitors. Female house sparrows and great reed warblers, whose males often take two mates, may try to smash a rival's eggs. Unattached smooth newt females will steal a male's sperm packet just as he deposits it for his mate. Midwife toads are even more proactive: jealous females will tear copulating couples asunder.
LOVE CALLS It may not be Barry White, but the nonstop bellowing of a male red deer over several days is apparently quite effective at inducing reproductive readiness in females. Other species use more subtle signals to...
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