Mate Guarding Behaviour in Swallows

Mate guarding, which is defined as " individual males following mates around during critical periods," is something that is very commonly seen in male swallows during the critical pre-egg laying, and egg lying periods. During the 1986 breeding season, Anders Pape Moller wanted to know the importance of mate guarding in these swallows. Two major questions seemed to have been posed at the beginning of the reading. First, what are the costs/benefits to the males and females when the behavior of guarding is given up. In other words, do the males and females benefit from this behavior? Or doe…