Scientists: Beg Gay Is Good, if You're a Bird

Contents:

• WHY IT'S OK FOR BIRDS TO BE GAY
• LBIAN ALBATROSS AND GAY GIRAFF? THE SCIENCE ON SAME-SEX SEXUALY ANIMALS
• SCIENTISTS: BEG GAY IS GOOD, IF YOU'RE A BIRD
• JAGUARS ASSOCIATE STRENGTH ACH OUT AS GAY A FIRST FOR US-BASED PRO LEAGU

WHY IT'S OK FOR BIRDS TO BE GAY

Nearly one-fifth of all long-term greylag gee upl are gay, posed of two mal.

LBIAN ALBATROSS AND GAY GIRAFF? THE SCIENCE ON SAME-SEX SEXUALY ANIMALS

They're not alone: More than 130 bird speci are known to engage homosexual behavr at least ocsnally, a fact that has puzzled all, evolutnary terms same-sex matg seems to rce the birds' chanc of reproductive succs. In some speci the same-sex pairs even raise young (nceived wh outsi partners, obvly) and stay together for several 2007, a team led by Geoff MacFarlane, a blogist at the Universy of Newstle Atralia, reported that male homosexual behavr was more mon polygyno bird speci, where mal mate wh numero femal, and that female homosexual behavr was more mon monogamo speci.

SCIENTISTS: BEG GAY IS GOOD, IF YOU'RE A BIRD

Srg sexTo fd out whether the theory might extend to homosexual behavr, MacFarlane and his team exhstively bed the lerature for acunts of same-sex urtship, mountg, or pair bondg.

JAGUARS ASSOCIATE STRENGTH ACH OUT AS GAY A FIRST FOR US-BASED PRO LEAGU

They foced on the 93 bird speci whose homosexual teractns scientists had seen the wild. For each speci, the team lculated the equency of homosexual behavr as well as both sex' ntributns to parentg. Overall, homosexual behavr amounted to ls than 5 percent of all sexual activy the 93 speci, though some s was much higher.

And sure enough, there was a strong rrelatn between a speci' matg system and s homosexual behavr. The balance shifted to femal socially monogamo speci, where the sex spl the work more far, female homosexualy hasn't turned up the handful of birds where each female mat wh many mal, but MacFarlane's team predicts may.