Research Shows that Monogamy is not for the Birds

AUSTRALASIAN gannets, seabirds that were previously believed to mate for life, apparently have a "divorce rate" that is similar to humans. Researcher Steffi Ismar from Auckland University said that orthinologists once considered the birds to be strictly monogamous, but observations of a colony on New Zealand's Cape Kidnappers over a 3 year period revealed their rate of separation from one breeding season to the next is about 40 per cent.  Australasian gannets are large birds that breed on islands off Victoria, Tasmania and New Zealand, each pair producing just one chick a season.  Ms Ismar, a PhD student who led the research published online in the European journal Naturwissenschaften, said the high rate of new pairings could be due to delays in returning to the breeding ground. This forces the waiting partner to find a new mate or miss a breeding season.  ''Birds who have secured a good territory can't wait forever for their old mate to arrive - eventually they just have to get on with it,'' Ms Ismar said.