Аннотация:The mating system of Kentish Plovers was studied in Hungary in 1988-91. Pairs renested together after clutch failure on 11 occasions. In addition, two males and one female changed mates (sequential polygyny and polyandry) between clutches. Biparental care lasted 5.9?5.9 (s.d.) d (n = 20) from hatching to desertion, usually by the female. The duration of biparental care was not related to the sex of the deserting parent, but male-deserted broods hatched earlier than female-deserted ones. In 5 out of 11 cases when pairs renested together, they moved between breeding sites (11.8?5.8 (s.d.) km), as did all three birds who changed mates (10, 24 and 24 km). These recorded distances suggest that the low reported frequency of mate change may be more a reflection of the high level of breeding dispersal than of the rarity of mate change.
