Sexual imprinting: Variations in the persistence of mate preference due to difference in stimulus quality in Japanese quail (Coturnix coturnix japonica)

The persistence of imprinted sexual preference for either the albino or normal Coturnix morph was compared. Male Coturnix that achieved a behavioral criterion of selecting in at least 8 of 10 choice tests the female morph to which they had been originally exposed were then housed for a period of 10 days with two hens of the morph to which they had not been exposed. In a second series of 10 choice tests administered after the cohabitation treatment, shifts in mate selection toward the more recently experienced morph were reliable only for males imprinted to albinos. The data are discussed in terms of the validity of the persistence property of the process instrumental in the development of mate preference in the Coturnix .