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In a 8-year study of the facultatively polygynous European Starling Sturnus vulgaris, apparent female mate desertion during the incubation/nestling period occurred in nine (7%) out of 132 breeding attempts. Desertion rates by primary (17%) and secondary (13%) females of polygynous mates were significantly higher than those by monogamous females (0%). True female mate desertion (in the sense that the male assumed parental care) occurred in three primary broods only. In all three cases, the primary females had received no male help during the first part of the nestling stage because their mate was attracting or courting an additional female at that time, and they deserted when the nestlings were about 16 days old (about five days before fledging). This is the first report of mate desertion at the end of the nestling cycle by primary females in any polygynous bird species. Mate desertion may be a strategy used by some primary females to force their mate to increase his overall investment in their brood. Female mate desertion in the Starling seems to be linked to the occurrence of polygyny and may be typical for populations where males trade mate attraction against feeding nestlings.