Sex and deception: a rare case of cheating in a lekking tropical bird

Many classic examples of sexually selected traits result from females making informed mate choices. Behaviors by males that increase their own reproductive success at the expense of female choice can undermine such mating systems. We documented an apparently rare example of such a behavior involving “cheating” in a facultatively cooperatively-displaying manakin species (White-ruffed manakin, Corapipo altera). After the cheating event, we observed a dramatic change in the behavior and activity of males displaying at the site and no subsequent female visits. We hypothesize that the infrequency of facultative cooperative behavior may in part result from cheating risks inherent in such systems. A digital video image relating to the article is available at http://www.momo-p.com/showdetail-e.php?movieid=momo190323ca01a.