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Published online 27 January 2003 | Nature | doi:10.1038/news030120-14
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Wimps with macho mates net more chicks
Second-rate males exploit female confusion.
By hanging around with good-looking birds, less macho males get to mate with choosy but confused females, say Australian ecologists.
Each breeding pair of superb fairy-wrens (Malurus cyaneus ) shares its territory with up to four subordinate males.
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