Birds’ long history of infidelity is being exacerbated by global warming

Apparently, humans aren’t the only species whose relationships can suffer from stress. According to new research, birds living in unpredictable climates are more likely to “cheat” on their feathered partners.
“Mating with multiple partners improves the chances that at least one chick will have the genes to cope with the variable conditions to come,” explained Carlos Botero, an evolutionary ecologist and the lead researcher of the study, published yesterday in the journal PLoS ONE.
Birds typically bond to one partner throughout a breeding season and sometimes nest with the same mate year after year. Before the 1990s, this phenomenon led scientists to believe that more than 90 percent of all species were monogamous, but thanks to improved genetic testing, we now know most birds actually stray from their partners.
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Original research published in PLoS ONE

http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0032311
Coverage also appears in the NY Times, Discovery, and the Huffington Post.