You’re at a party and you’re single. Unfortunately, so are most of your friends, and they have already paired up with the most attractive people in the room. Do you try your chances with the ones who are left, even though you don’t really like them?

Animals face these sorts of decisions all the time. For example, the vast majority of birds stay with their mates for at least one breeding season. Some even mate for life. None of them have an infinite choice of mates, and some individuals will inevitably end up with an inferior partner. And according to Simon Griffith from Macquarie University, that can be a very stressful experience.

Griffith worked with the stunning Gouldian finch. It’s