An eye for beauty: Lateralized visual stimulation of courtship behavior and mate preferences in male zebra finches, Taeniopygia guttata

• What are the neural and cognitive mechanisms underlying mate attraction and choice?
• How does information from each eye affect courtship and mate choice in zebra finches?
• Males courted and preferred high-quality females more when the right eye was used.
• Using the right eye for courtship improves a male's ability to assess female quality.
• Using the right eye thus may enhance male attractiveness and reproductive success.

Research on intersexual selection focuses on traits that have evolved for attracting mates and the consequences of mate choice. However, little is known about the cognitive and neural mechanisms that allow choosers to discriminate among potential mates and express an attraction to specific traits. Preferential use of the right eye during lateral displays in zebra finches, and lateralized expression of intermediate early genes in the left hemisphere during courtship led us to hypothesize that: (1) visual information from each eye differentially mediates courtship responses to potential mates; and (2) the ability to discriminate among mates and prefer certain mates over others is lateralized in the right eye/left hemisphere system of zebra finch brains. First, we exposed male zebra finches to females when using left, right or both eyes. Males courted more when the right eye was available than when only the left eye was used. Secondly, male preference for females – using beak color to indicate female quality – was tested. Right-eyed and binocular males associated with and courted orange-beaked more than gray-beaked females; whereas left-eyed males showed no preference. Lateral displays and eye use in male zebra finches increase their attractiveness and ability to assess female quality, potentially enhancing reproductive success.This article is part of a Special Issue entitled: CO3 2013.