scholarly journals Winter male plumage coloration correlates with breeding status in a cooperative breeding species

2007 ◽  
Vol 19 (2) ◽  
pp. 391-397 ◽  
Author(s):  
E. Solis ◽  
J. M. Aviles ◽  
C. De La Cruz ◽  
J. Valencia ◽  
G. Sorci
Keyword(s):  
Cooperative Breeding ◽  
Plumage Coloration ◽  
Male Plumage ◽  
Breeding Status

scholarly journals Vocal Transmission of Breeding Status May Facilitate Dispersal in a Cooperative Breeding Primate

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Efstathia Robakis ◽  
Gideon Erkenswick ◽  
Mrinalini Watsa
Keyword(s):  
Reproductive Success ◽  
Cooperative Breeding ◽  
Partner Choice ◽  
Reproductive Suppression ◽  
Neighboring Group ◽  
Vocal Signals ◽  
Mating Opportunities ◽  
One Year ◽  
Sexually Mature ◽  
Breeding Status

Social complexity may drive complexity in communicative systems due to an individual's need to navigate unpredictable interactions with multiple conspecifics. Cooperative breeding primates (marmosets and tamarins; family: Callitrichidae) live in groups with moderate to high reproductive skew, particularly in females, whereby sexually mature individuals are frequently prevented from breeding. Remarkably, dispersal from natal groups is not stereotyped upon reaching reproductive maturity. Individuals are often observed remaining in their natal groups until the same-sex breeder in their group or a neighboring group dies, experiencing hormonal reproductive suppression, aggression, and limited access to potential mates. Here we examined whether emperor tamarins (Saguinus imperator) might use vocal signals to reduce dispersal risks and maximize the likelihood of attaining a breeding position. Using six consecutive years of mark-recapture data, we showed that sexually mature non-breeders (herein "secondary breeders") are more likely to leave their groups from one year to the next than sexually mature breeders ("primary breeders"). This confirmed that, unlike primary breeders who do not need to disperse in order to reproduce, secondary breeders are choosing to accept the risks associated with dispersal and emigrating from their natal groups. We used neural networks to classify vocalizations according to individual breeding status, and conducted a series of playback experiments which demonstrated that tamarins discriminated between the calls of primary and secondary breeders. Our data support the hypotheses that secondary breeders disperse to increase mating opportunities and use vocalizations to signal their availability to potential mates. This species of cooperative breeder appears to use vocalization to navigate its social and reproductive systems, minimizing risks of dispersal and in turn increasing the likelihood of reproductive success. This research has important implications for our understanding of sexual signaling, partner choice, and reproductive success in cooperative breeders.

Male Plumage Coloration Affects Dominance and Aggression in Female House Finches

Bird Behavior ◽  
1996 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-7 ◽  
Author(s):  
James R. Belthoff ◽  
Patricia Adair Gowaty
Keyword(s):  
Plumage Coloration ◽  
House Finches ◽  
Male Plumage

scholarly journals Female Mate Choice in Relation to Structural Plumage Coloration in Blue Grosbeaks

The Condor ◽  
2003 ◽  
Vol 105 (3) ◽  
pp. 593-598 ◽  
Author(s):  
Barbara Ballentine ◽  
Geoffrey E. Hill
Keyword(s):  
Mate Choice ◽  
Female Mate Choice ◽  
Nutritional Condition ◽  
Plumage Coloration ◽  
Peak Wavelength ◽  
Female Mate ◽  
Male Plumage ◽  
Natural Range ◽  
Range Of Variation ◽  
Blue Coloration

Abstract Plumage blueness in Blue Grosbeaks (Passerina caerulea) is related to nutritional condition during molt, and bluer males hold larger territories with more food resources. We tested the hypothesis that females use male plumage brightness as a criterion in choosing mates. In a mate-choice aviary, we presented females with a choice between males whose feathers were either brightened with blue marker or dulled with black marker. Treatment resulted in an increase in the plumage intensity (reflectance at peak wavelength) of blue-treated males and a decrease in the intensity of black-treated males within the natural range of variation, while the wavelength of peak reflection (hue) remained unchanged. During mate-choice trials, females consistently preferred particular males, but choice was random with respect to treatment. Thus, the intensity of blue coloration of male Blue Grosbeaks appears not to function as a criterion in female mate choice. Elección de Pareja en Hembras de Passerina caerulea con Relación a la Coloración Estructural del Plumaje Resumen. Estudios previos han demostrado que la coloración azul del plumaje de Passerina caerulea está relacionada con la condición nutricional durante la muda y que los machos de coloración más azul mantienen territorios más grandes y con mayores fuentes de alimento. En el presente estudio, examinamos la hipótesis de que las hembras usan el brillo del plumaje como criterio para la selección de parejas. En una arena de selección de parejas, presentamos a las hembras con la opción de elegir entre machos de plumaje coloreado artificialmente con marcador azul o machos de plumaje artificialmente coloreado con marcador negro. El tratamiento del plumaje produjo cambios en la intensidad de color de tal forma que incrementamos la intensidad de color en los machos tratados con marcador azul y redujimos la intensidad de aquellos tratados con marcador negro. La longitud de onda del pico de reflección (tono) no cambió. Durante las pruebas de selección de pareja, las hembras mostraron una preferencia consistente por ciertos machos, pero la elección fue aleatoria con respecto al tratamiento. Por lo tanto, la intensidad de coloración azul de P. caerulea no parece servir como criterio selectivo en la elección de pareja.

scholarly journals Plumage coloration and social context influence male investment in song

2018 ◽  
Vol 14 (7) ◽  
pp. 20180300 ◽  
Author(s):  
L. J. Henderson ◽  
Kathleen R. Brazeal ◽  
Thomas P. Hahn
Keyword(s):  
Social Context ◽  
Plumage Coloration ◽  
Plumage Colour ◽  
House Finch ◽  
Social Environments ◽  
Multiple Signals ◽  
Male Song ◽  
Male Plumage ◽  
Song Production ◽  
Haemorhous Mexicanus

Animals use multiple signals to attract mates, including elaborate song, brightly coloured ornaments and physical displays. Female birds often prefer both elaborate male song and intense carotenoid-based plumage coloration. This could lead less visually ornamented males to increase song production to maximize their attractiveness to females. We tested this possibility in the highly social and non-territorial house finch ( Haemorhous mexicanus ), in which females discriminate among males based on both song and on the intensity of red carotenoid-based plumage coloration. We manipulated male plumage coloration through carotenoid supplementation during moult, so that males were either red or yellow. Males were then housed under three social environments: (i) all red birds, (ii) all yellow birds or (iii) a mixture of red/yellow birds. We recorded song after presentation of a female. Red males produced more song than yellow males. But when yellow males were housed with red conspecifics, they produced more song relative to yellow males housed with equally unattractive yellow males. This study provides novel evidence that a male's plumage coloration and the plumage colour of his social competitors influence investment in song.

scholarly journals Multiple shifts between violet and ultraviolet vision in a family of passerine birds with associated changes in plumage coloration

2011 ◽  
Vol 279 (1732) ◽  
pp. 1269-1276 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anders Ödeen ◽  
Stephen Pruett-Jones ◽  
Amy C. Driskell ◽  
Jessica K. Armenta ◽  
Olle Håstad
Keyword(s):  
Plumage Coloration ◽  
Amino Acid Residues ◽  
Avian Evolution ◽  
Phylogenetic Reconstructions ◽  
Single Cone ◽  
Male Plumage ◽  
Ultraviolet Vision ◽  
Character Correlation ◽  
Cone Opsins

Colour vision in diurnal birds falls into two discrete classes, signified by the spectral sensitivity of the violet- (VS) or ultraviolet-sensitive (UVS) short wavelength-sensitive type 1 (SWS1) single cone. Shifts between sensitivity classes are rare; three or four are believed to have happened in the course of avian evolution, one forming UVS higher passerines. Such shifts probably affect the expression of shortwave-dominated plumage signals. We have used genomic DNA sequencing to determine VS or UVS affinity in fairy-wrens and allies, Maluridae, a large passerine family basal to the known UVS taxa. We have also spectrophotometrically analysed male plumage coloration as perceived by the VS and UVS vision systems. Contrary to any other investigated avian genus, Malurus (fairy-wrens) contains species with amino acid residues typical of either VS or UVS cone opsins. Three bowerbird species (Ptilonorhynchidae) sequenced for outgroup comparison carry VS opsin genes. Phylogenetic reconstructions render one UVS gain followed by one or more losses as the most plausible evolutionary scenario. The evolution of avian ultraviolet sensitivity is hence more complex, as a single shift no longer explains its distribution in Passeriformes. Character correlation analysis proposes that UVS vision is associated with shortwave-reflecting plumage, which is widespread in Maluridae.

scholarly journals A field test of female mate preference for male plumage coloration in eastern bluebirds

2009 ◽  
Vol 78 (4) ◽  
pp. 879-885 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mark Liu ◽  
Lynn Siefferman ◽  
Herman Mays ◽  
John E. Steffen ◽  
Geoffrey E. Hill
Keyword(s):  
Field Test ◽  
Mate Preference ◽  
Plumage Coloration ◽  
Female Mate Preference ◽  
Female Mate ◽  
Eastern Bluebirds ◽  
Male Plumage
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