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This study was carried out at the Poultry Research Station / Agricultural Research Department / Ministry of Agriculture, to investigate the effects of implanting genistein (GE) for the period of 1/February/2021 to 16/August/2021. into Iraqi local chickens at various ages on primary (PSF) and secondary (SSF) sex ratios of female, fertility (FE), and hatchability (HA) traits. At the age of 12 weeks, 100 hens and 20 roosters of Iraqi local chickens from the Poultry Research Station were used in this study. After numbering the hens, the birds were housed in individual cages and divided into four treatments (each with 25 chickens) as follows: T1: none implantation; T2, T3, and T4: implantation of 10 mg GE /kg weight at 14, 18, and 22 weeks of age, respectively. The experiment was divided into three periods, each for 28 weeks, and then rated according to the overall average and all of the traits studied. The results showed that implanting GE into hens had a positive influence on FE, PSF, SSF, and estrogen level (ES), especially at 18 weeks of age. There were also significant correlations between traits and ES in hens’ blood. It was also shown that the regression of most traits on ES is first order linear. As a result, it can be concluded that GE has a positive effect on ES, PSF, SSF, with the possibility of predicting sex ratios and sex offspring based on estrogen levels in the blood, and that implantation at 18 weeks of age has produced great results.

Background: Flight performance and dispersal behaviour can differ between sexes, resulting in sex-biased dispersal. The primary sex ratio of populations may also explain dispersal bias between sexes, as this bias may evolve with the primary sex ratio to reduce intrasexual competition. Although dispersal bias between sexes is relevant to population dynamics, there are few studies on sex-biased dispersal in insects. We studied the flight performance and dispersal behaviour of seven saproxylic beetle species associated with tree hollows from a sex perspective. We also analysed the possible coevolution of flight performance with the primary sex ratio. Methods: Wing loading and wing aspect ratio were used as measures of the flight performance of species and sexes. Dispersal behaviour was explored by analysing the frequency of each sex in interception traps versus the primary sex ratio obtained by tree hollow emergence traps using contingency tables and posthoc standardized residuals. A more active flight behaviour was expected for the sex with higher capture frequency in the interception traps. To explore the causes of flight performance bias between sexes, we searched for possible correlations between wing loading or wing aspect ratio and primary sex ratio using Pearson’s correlation coefficient. Results: Wing loading and wing aspect ratio differed between species and sexes, with flight performance being higher in males than in females for four of the seven species analysed. Dispersal behaviour and flight performance matched in the case of Elater ferrugineus; males showed higher flight performance and were the most collected sex in the interception traps (more active flyers). In contrast, the higher flight activity of Cetonia carthami aurataeformis females was not correlated with a higher flight performance than that of males. Moreover, we found that a bias in the primary sex ratio towards females is often correlated with a decrease in female flight performance. Conclusions: We stress that flight performance and dispersal behaviour of sexes do not always go hand in hand. Moreover, the relationship between the sex ratio and flight performance bias between sexes is not driven by competition within the most abundant sex. The inclusion of a sex perspective in insect dispersal studies would be useful to detect dispersal bias between sexes and its causes and would allow for further analysis of its effects on population dynamics.

Sex allocation theory predicts that parents bias the offspring sex ratio strategically. In avian species, the offspring sex ratio can be biased at multiple growth stages, although the mechanisms are not well known. It is crucial to reveal a cause and timing of biased offspring sex ratio. We investigated (i) offspring sex ratio at multiple growth stages, from laying to fledging; and (ii) the stage at which offspring sex ratio became biased; and (iii) the cause of biased offspring sex ratio in Eurasian tree sparrows Passer montanus. Sex determination of 218 offspring, including hatchlings and unhatched eggs from 41 clutches, suggested that the offspring sex ratio was not biased at the egg‐laying stage but was significantly female‐biased after the laying stage due to higher mortality of male embryos. Half of the unhatched eggs showed no sign of embryo development (37/74, 50.00%), and most undeveloped eggs were male (36/37, 97.30%). Additional experiments using an incubator suggested that the cause of embryo developmental failure was a lack of developmental ability within the egg, rather than a failure of incubation. This study highlights the importance of clarifying offspring sex ratio at multiple stages and suggests that offspring sex ratio is adjusted after fertilization. A mechanism to control offspring sex ratio remained unknown in birds. Using Eurasian tree sparrows, we investigated successive change in offspring sex ratio form egg laying to fledging and found that male‐specific embryo mortality biased sex ratio to female. This study provides the first data on the successive change in sex ratio at multiple stages in wild birds.

Recent studies have shown that some species of birds have a remarkable degree of control over the sex ratio of offspring they produce. However, the mechanism by which they achieve this feat is unknown. Hormones circulating in the breeding female are particularly sensitive to environmental perturbations, and so could provide a mechanism for her to bias the sex ratio of her offspring in favour of the sex that would derive greatest benefit from the prevailing environmental conditions. Here, we present details of an experiment in which we manipulated levels of testosterone, 17β-oestradiol and corticosterone in breeding female Japanese quail (Coturnix coturnix japonica) using Silastic implants and looked for effects on the sex ratio of offspring produced. Offspring sex ratio in this species was significantly correlated with faecal concentrations of the principal avian stress hormone, corticosterone, and artificially elevated levels of corticosterone resulted in significantly female-biased sex ratios at laying. Varying testosterone and 17β-oestradiol had no effect on sex ratio alone, and faecal levels of these hormones did not vary in response to corticosterone. Our results suggest that corticosterone may be part of the sex-biasing process in birds.

Sex ratio adjustment has become a hot topic in ecology and evolutionary biology, as documentations of sex ratio skews are numerous, and include examples in diverse animal species. Over the past several decades, scientists have repeatedly debated whether human sex ratios also significantly deviate toward one sex or the other based on environmental or social conditions. An increasing number of studies supports the idea that exposure to stressful conditions can influence the sexes of offspring produced by humans, a majority of which document significantly fewer males after exposure to adverse conditions such as severe life events, economic disruption, or natural disasters. From a comparative standpoint, these findings are similar to studies in non-human mammals and other vertebrate species showing a bias toward females during times of stress. However, the mechanisms by which stress-related biases in the offspring sex ratio may occur remain elusive, and the involvement of glucocorticoids indicating a true influence of stress itself remains unstudied. Here, I review the evidence that stressful events induce sex ratio adjustment in humans. Additionally, I discuss the possibility for glucocorticoid mediation of sex ratio adjustment and the potential reproductive stages during which stress-induced sex ratio adjustment may occur in humans and other mammals.

Warming temperatures due to climate change are feminizing sea turtle primary sex ratios, reducing hatchling fitness, and, in extreme cases, limiting hatchling production, including for temperate nesting species such as loggerhead turtles (Caretta caretta). Though more females may lead to short‐term population growth through increased egg production, long‐term gains may be threatened by the scarcity of males for mating and reduced survival rates of early life stages. Beaches near the limits of sea turtle nesting ranges are typically cooler and thus critical for species conservation efforts as they contribute a higher percentage of males to regional breeding grounds both now and in the future. A feminizing trend up to 88% was previously estimated for loggerhead hatchlings through 2015 on Bald Head Island, North Carolina, USA, near the northern extent of the northwest Atlantic loggerhead nesting range. However, despite a continued increasing trend in air temperature, average incubation durations and modeled primary sex ratios over the past 5 years (67% female) are more similar to those from the mid‐2000s. Environmental conditions during incubation, behavioral changes in nest site selection and timing, and physiological variables including clutch size and maternal identity were investigated using a generalized additive model to explain this recent reversal. Increased rainfall, alongshore local movement of nest placement toward cooler conditions, and a minor shift in nesting phenology earlier in the year combined to counteract the 1.1°C increase in average air temperature experienced by incubating nests now versus 20 years ago. Behavioral adaptations may thus mitigate some of the projected impacts from climate change but are insufficient on their own as rainfall had a larger effect size than behavior. Without significant behavioral changes or management interventions, sustained future male hatchling production at many nesting beaches will likely depend on increased rainfall—an uncertain projection for many such beaches.

Birds have the ability to influence offspring sex prior to egg laying and may use hormones to mediate these skews. Corticosterone is of particular interest as a mediator of offspring sex because, as the primary stress hormone in birds, it regulates responses to environmental and social stimuli that trigger sex ratio biases. In previous studies in birds, chronic elevations of corticosterone stimulated female-biased sex ratios while acute pharmacological elevations that were provided 5 h prior to the expected time of ovulation stimulated male-biased sex ratios. Here, we aimed to determine the magnitude of corticosterone necessary to influence offspring sex and to further pinpoint the timing of the hormonal influence. Because high-dose injections of corticosterone stimulated male-biased sex ratios in hens, we hypothesized that females receiving acute pharmacological elevations of corticosterone would produce more male offspring while females with acute physiological elevations would produce an intermediate proportion of males compared to controls. We tested our hypotheses in laying hens by elevating corticosterone in the physiological or pharmacological range through injections of corticosterone administered 4 or 5 h prior to the expected time of ovulation. Contrary to our hypothesis, a physiological dose of corticosterone provided 5 h prior to the expected time of ovulation did not bias offspring sex ratios when compared to controls. Further, when corticosterone injections were given at 4 h prior to the expected time of ovulation, sex ratios were instead biased towards females. These results suggest that the timing and magnitude of the corticosterone elevation are both critical not only to whether a sex ratio bias occurs, but also the direction of the bias.

It is well recognized that sex allocation strategies can be influenced by sexual selection, when females adjust offspring sex ratios in response to their mates' attractiveness. Yet the reciprocal influence of strategic sex allocation on processes of sexual selection has only recently been revealed. Recent theoretical work demonstrates that sex allocation weakens selection for female preferences, leading to the decline of male traits. However, these results have been derived assuming that females have perfect knowledge of mate attractiveness and precise control over cost-free allocation. Relaxing these assumptions highlights the importance of another feedback: that adaptive sex allocation must become difficult to maintain as traits and preferences decline. When sex allocation strategies erode not only traits and preferences but also their own selective advantage, predictions can no longer be expressed as a simple linear correlation between ornament exaggeration and adaptive sex allocation. Instead, strongest sex ratio biases may be found at intermediate trait levels.

Offspring sex ratios at the termination of parental care should theoretically be skewed toward the less expensive sex, which in most avian species would be females, the smaller gender. Among birds, however, raptors offer an unusual dynamic because they exhibit reversed size dimorphism with females being larger than males. And thus theory would predict a preponderance of male offspring. Results for raptors and birds in general have been varied although population‐level estimates of sex ratios in avian offspring are generally at unity. Adaptive adjustment of sex ratios in avian offspring is difficult to predict perhaps in part due to a lack of life‐history details and short‐term investigations that cannot account for precision or repeatability of sex ratios across time. We conducted a novel comparative study of sex ratios in nestling Cooper's hawks (Accipiter cooperii) in two study populations across breeding generations during 11 years in Wisconsin, 2001–2011. One breeding population recently colonized metropolitan Milwaukee and exhibited rapidly increasing population growth, while the ex‐Milwaukee breeding population was stable. Following life‐history trade‐off theory and our prediction regarding this socially monogamous species in which reversed sexual size dimorphism is extreme, first‐time breeding one‐year‐old, second‐year females in both study populations produced a preponderance of the smaller and cheaper sex, males, whereas ASY (after‐second‐year), ≥2‐year‐old females in Milwaukee produced a nestling sex ratio near unity and predictably therefore a greater proportion of females compared to ASY females in ex‐Milwaukee who produced a preponderance of males. Adjustment of sex ratios in both study populations occurred at conception. Life histories and selective pressures related to breeding population trajectory in two age cohorts of nesting female Cooper's hawk likely vary, and it is possible that these differences influenced the sex ratios we documented for two age cohorts of female Cooper's hawks in Wisconsin. We conducted a novel comparatie study of sex ratios in nestling Cooper's Hawks (Accipiter cooperii) in two study populations across breeding generations in Wisconsin, 2001–2011. Following life‐history trade‐off theory and our prediction regarding this socially monogamous species, first‐time breeding one‐year‐old females in both study populations produced a preponderance of the smaller and cheaper sex, males. Whereas older females in Milwaukee produced a nestling sex ration near unity, and predictably therefore a greater proportion of females compared to older females in ex‐Milwaukee who produced a preponderance of males.

When fitness returns or production costs vary between male and female offspring, selection is expected to favor females that adjust offspring sex ratio accordingly. However, to what extent vertebrates can do so is the subject of ongoing debate. Here, we explore primary sex ratios in 125 broods of cooperatively breeding purple-crowned fairy-wrens Maluras coronatus. We expected that females might adjust offspring sex ratio because this passerine species experiences considerable variation in social and environmental conditions. (1) However, although helpers substantially increase parental fitness, females (particularly in pairs and small groups) did not overproduce philopatric males (helper-repayment hypothesis). (2) Sex-ratio adjustment based on competition among individuals (helper-competition hypothesis) did not conceal helper-repayment effects or drive sex allocation on its own: while high-quality territories can accommodate more birds, brood sex ratios were independent of territory quality, alone or in interaction with group size. (3) Additionally, males are larger than females and are possibly more costly to produce (costly sex hypothesis), and (4) female offspring may benefit more from long-term effects of favorable conditions early in life (Trivers-Willard hypothesis). Nonetheless, large seasonal variation in food abundance was not associated with a consistent skew in primary sex ratios. Thus, overall, our results did not support the main hypotheses of adaptive sex-ratio adjustment in M coronatus. We discuss that long-term differential costs and benefits may be insufficient to drive evolution of primary sex-ratio manipulation by M. coronatus females. More investigation is therefore needed to determine the general required sex differences in long-term fitness returns for mechanisms of primary sex-ratio manipulation to evolve.