Most studies of songbirds have dealt with Temperate
Zone breeders. The only studies known to us of tropical,
socially monogamous birds (Telecky 1989,
Fleischer et al. 1994, Robertson and Kikkawa 1994)
have revealed high mate fidelity (0% EPF). We predict
that most tropical, behaviorally monogamous song
birds also will exhibit genetic monogamy because in
over 60% of such species (Morton 1979, 1980) pairs
are sedentary year-round on territories, maintain longterm
pair bonds, and nest asynchronously with other
pairs (Stutchbury and Morton 1995). We present here
results of multilocus DNA fingerprinting that reveal no
EPF or intra-specific brood parasitism (ISBP) in a sample
of clutches of the Dusky Antbird (Cercomacra tyrannina),
a tropical, sedentary and behaviorally monogamous
passerine