The Conversation

Early bird gets the sperm ... to the egg

Author: The Conversation

Sing your little heart out, Mr Superb Fairy Wren. And set your alarm clock early. David Cook/flickr, CC BY-NC

What gets you out of bed in the morning? Before morning has broken, and some time before blackbird has spoken, songbirds rise for sex. And a clever new experiment reveals just how important it is for male songbirds not to sleep in.

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