Fitness consequences of divorce in the azure-winged magpie depends on the breeding experience of a new mate

Sexual conflict in producing and raising offspring is a critical issue in evolutionary ecology research. Individual experience affects their breeding performance, as measured by such traits of provisioning of offspring and engagement in extra-pair copulations, and may cause an imbalance in sexual conflict. Thus, divorce is hypothesized to occur within aged social pairs, irrespective of current reproductive success. This concept was explored in the azure-winged magpie (Cyanopica cyanus) by investigating the divorce of a social pair and its relationship to their changes in breeding performance with prior experience. Females engaging in extra-pair copulation may intensify sexual conflicts and may be the main reason for divorce. Once divorced, females re-pairing with an inexperienced male realized higher reproductive success than that re-pairing with an experienced male; males re-pairing with an experienced female realized higher reproductive success than that re-pairing with an inexperienc...