"Wingman" Helps Alpha Male Bird Gets the Girl.

Dominant male lance-tailed manakin has a "wingman" that helps him get the girl:

Instead of fighting over females, pairs of male lance-tailed manakins team up to court prospective mates. Two males dance together for interested females, using tightly synchronized 'leapfrog' and flight displays to impress the opposite sex. But when the dance is over, only the dominant male, the alpha, gets the chance to mate.

Turns out, being the beta male has its benefits. Emily DuVal of UC Berkeley's Museum of Vertebrate Zoology did the research:

Following males across years showed that betas became alphas more often than other males, but not necessarily at the same territory where they were betas. Even when the local alpha slot was empty, some betas moved to be helpers elsewhere rather than take over the vacant position. "Without being an alpha, there's essentially no chance for these males to reproduce," says DuVal. "My results suggest that betas could actually benefit from staying betas for a while, for example by gaining courtship skills during a sort of apprenticeship or by forming alliances with other males who later act as their betas."

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