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220 results for “plumage”
Female and male plumage colour is linked to parental quality, pairing and extra-pair mating in a tropical passerine
<p>Sexual selection has been proposed to drive the evolution of elaborate phenotypic traits in males, which often confer success in competition or mating. However, in many species both males and females display such traits, although studies investigating selection acting in both sexes are scarce. In this study, we investigated whether plumage ornamentation is sexually selected in female and male lovely fairy-wrens <em>Malurus amabilis</em>, a cooperatively breeding songbird. We found that female and male plumage colour was correlated with parental quality but not with individual quality and survival. We also found evidence of positive assortative mating based on plumage colour. Microsatellite analyses of paternity indicated that the lovely fairy-wren has high levels of extra-pair paternity, with 53% of offspring (in 58% of broods, of 57% of females) resulting from extra-pair mating. Female and male plumage colour did not predict reproductive success or the proportion of extra-pair offspring in their own nest, but less colourful males obtained higher extra-pair paternity when paired with more colourful females, and gained overall higher total paternity (own nest and other nests). We argue that plumage colour may be under sex-specific selection, highlighting the importance of looking at both sexes in studies of sexual selection and ornament evolution. The current findings together with previous study, suggest that plumage colour in female and male lovely fairy-wrens appears to be an honest signal relevant in both intra and inter-sexual competition contexts.</p>
Figure 5 in Distribution and identification of the White-collared Kite Leptodon forbesi and the juvenile plumages of the Gray-headed Kite Leptodon cayanensis
Figure 5. Subadult of Leptodon cayanensis (left) and Leptodon forbesi (right) showing the same plumage pattern. Records made in São Paulo (photo by Marcelo Figueiroa) and Alagoas (photo by Ciro albano), respectively.
Figure 3 in Distribution and identification of the White-collared Kite Leptodon forbesi and the juvenile plumages of the Gray-headed Kite Leptodon cayanensis
Figure 3. Juvenile individual of Leptodon cayanensis in mimetic phase of Spizaetus ornatus, photographed in Belterra, Pará. Photos by Robson Czaban.
Figure 2 in Distribution and identification of the White-collared Kite Leptodon forbesi and the juvenile plumages of the Gray-headed Kite Leptodon cayanensis
Figure 2. Juvenile individuals of Leptodon cayanensis in the melanistic phase, photographed in Rio Maya Lodge, Belize (left), and in Campinas, São Paulo (right). Photos by Aaron Juan and Guilherme Ortiz, respectively.
Figure 7. A in Distribution and identification of the White-collared Kite Leptodon forbesi and the juvenile plumages of the Gray-headed Kite Leptodon cayanensis
Figure 7. A pair of Leptodon in Alagoas (left) and another in Sergipe (right). Note that the pair in Alagoas has a typical adult L. forbesi along with a presumed subadult one, and the pair in Sergipe has a typical adult L. cayanensis along with a presumed subadult one; but the subadults are not identifiable. Photos by Ciro Albano and Cayo Lima, respectively.
Figure 1 in Distribution and identification of the White-collared Kite Leptodon forbesi and the juvenile plumages of the Gray-headed Kite Leptodon cayanensis
Figure 1. Juvenile light phase in both species. Leptodon cayanensis (left) photographed in Pirajuí, São Paulo, and Leptodon forbesi (right) photographed in Santa Rita, Paraíba. Photos by Rafael Martins and Ian Thompson, respectively.
Figure 6 in Distribution and identification of the White-collared Kite Leptodon forbesi and the juvenile plumages of the Gray-headed Kite Leptodon cayanensis
Figure 6. Updated distribution of Leptodon forbesi. Black circles represent all records of L. forbesi (see the localities in Pereira et al., 2019 and in the text above; the two circles in Sergipe are the photos WA3954496 and WA3608338), white squares represent the records of L. cayanensis in Sergipe (Pereira et al., 2014; Silva & Lima, 2016; Fig. 7), and the white triangle represents a subadult Leptodon sp. (WA3548821). The range adopted by BirdLife/IUCN (2020) was based on the misidentified record in Bahia state.
Figure 4 in Distribution and identification of the White-collared Kite Leptodon forbesi and the juvenile plumages of the Gray-headed Kite Leptodon cayanensis
Figure 4. Leptodon cayanensis (A-D) and Leptodon forbesi (E-H) in successive molts. Individuals A and E show the subadult plumage (see photos in Fig. 5), which follows the mimetic juvenile one, and individuals D and H show the definitive adult plumage.
Data from: Testosterone activates sexual dimorphism including male-typical carotenoid but not melanin plumage pigmentation in a female bird
In males it is frequently testosterone (T) that activates the expression of sexually selected morphological and behavioral displays, but the role of T in regulating similar traits in females is less clear. Here we combine correlational data with results from T and gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH) manipulations in both sexes to assess the role of T in mediating sexually dimorphic coloration and morphology in the red-backed fairy-wren (Malurus melanocephalus). We show that (1) natural variation in female expression of ornamental traits (darkened bills and red back feathers) are positively associated with age and circulating androgen titres, (2) females have the capacity to express most male-typical traits in response to exogenous T, including carotenoid-pigmented body plumage, shorter feathers, darkened bill, and enlarged cloacal protuberance, but (3) appear constrained in production of male-typical melanin-pigmented plumage, and (4) low androgen levels during the pre-nuptial molt, probably due to low ovarian capacity for steroid production (or LH-sensitivity), prevent females from developing male-like ornamentation. Thus, females appear to retain molecular mechanism for hormonally regulated male-typical ornamentation, although these are rarely activated because of insufficient production of the hormonal signal.
Data from: Achromatic plumage brightness predicts stress resilience and social interactions in tree swallows (Tachycineta bicolor)
Theory suggests that signal honesty may be maintained by differential costs for high and low quality individuals. For signals that mediate social interactions, costs can arise from the way that a signal changes the subsequent social environment via receiver responses. These receiver-dependent costs may be linked with individual quality through variation in resilience to environmental and social stress. Here, we imposed stressful conditions on female tree swallows (Tachycineta bicolor) by attaching groups of feathers during incubation to decrease flight efficiency and maneuverability. We simultaneously monitored social interactions using an RFID network that allowed us to track the identity of every individual that visited each nest for the entire season. Prior to treatments, plumage coloration was correlated with baseline and stress-induced corticosterone. Relative to controls, experimentally challenged females were more likely to abandon their nest during incubation. Overall, females with brighter white breasts were less likely to abandon, but this pattern was only significant under stressful conditions. In addition to being more resilient, brighter females received more unique visitors at their nest box and tended to make more visits to other active nests. In contrast, dorsal coloration did not reliably predict abandonment or social interactions. Taken together, our results suggest that females differ in their resilience to stress and that these differences are signaled by plumage brightness, which is in turn correlated with the frequency of social interactions. While we do not document direct costs of social interaction, our results are consistent with models of signal honesty based on receiver-dependent costs.
Stabilizing selection on a plumage-based foraging adaptation: hooded warblers with average-sized white tail spots live longer
<p><span>Avian flush-pursuit insectivores typically use contrasting white plumage patches in their tails or wings to startle potential prey. Although experimental evidence indicates that the extent of white has been fine-tuned by natural selection to optimize foraging performance, the hypothesis that within-population plumage variation directly influences survival or lifetime reproduction and is subject to stabilizing selection has not been tested. Here I provide such a test using data collected as part of a 14-year study of a colour-ringed breeding population of the hooded warbler (<em>Setophaga</em> <em>citrina</em>), a migratory flush-pursuit insectivore that shows inter-individual variation in the extent of white in the tail that is highly repeatable across molts and likely heritable. As expected under stabilizing selection, warblers with average-sized white tail patches achieved significantly higher long-term apparent survival than individuals with either a lesser or greater extent of white in the tail. Evidence of stabilizing selection was especially strong in males, an observation that is likely related to pronounced sexual habitat segregation on the wintering range. My results provide infrequently observed evidence of stabilizing selection operating in a natural population and also illustrate how stabilizing selection can act on avian plumage traits outside the context of sexual and social signaling.</span></p>
Function of juvenile plumage in the northern goshawk (Accipiter gentilis): Aggressive mimicry hypothesis
<p><span>Multiple raptors show juvenile plumage that is substantially different from that of their parents. Here, we test the prediction that the colouration of the juvenile northern goshawk (<em>Accipiter gentilis</em>) resembling the colouration of the common buzzard (<em>Buteo buteo</em>) acts as a form of aggressive mimicry. The goshawk specialises in hunting larger birds and mammals up to the size of geese or hares, while the buzzard preys mostly on small rodents. Potential prey may thus consider juvenile goshawks as less dangerous raptors, and the juvenile goshawk may thus gain an advantage when hunting. We used the Eurasian magpie (<em>Pica pica</em>), a common prey of the goshawk, to test this prediction. We compared the behavioural responses of magpie parents defending their freshly fledged young towards stuffed dummies of an adult goshawk, juvenile goshawk, and buzzard. To be able to assess whether this behaviour differs from responses to a nest predator and a harmless bird we also presented a common raven (<em>Corvus corax</em>) and common pheasant (Phasianus colchicus) as baseline stimuli. The overall intensity of antipredatory behaviour towards the juvenile and adult goshawks did not differ, but magpies took more risks facing juvenile goshawks. Additionally, the intensity of antipredatory behaviour towards the juvenile goshawk was higher than towards the buzzard, but the willingness to take risks did not differ in relation to the two predators. The overall intensity of antipredator behaviour thus supports the conclusion that magpies do not distinguish between juvenile and adult goshawks, while they do distinguish juvenile goshawks from buzzards. Conversely, the willingness to take risks supports the conclusion that magpies do not distinguish juvenile goshawks from buzzards.</span></p>
Data from: Do metal mines and their runoff affect plumage color? A regional scale study of streak-backed orioles in south-central Mexico
<p>Metal mining causes serious ecological disturbance, due partly to heavy metal (HM) pollution that can accumulate at mining sites themselves and be dispersed downstream as runoff. Plumage coloration is important in birds' social and ecological interactions and sensitive to environmental stressors, and several local-scale studies have found decreased carotenoid-based plumage and/or increased melanin-based plumage in wild birds exposed to HM pollution. We investigated regional-scale effects of proximity to mines and their downstream rivers as a proxy of exposure to HM-contaminated mining waste on plumage coloration in streak-backed orioles (<em>Icterus pustulatus</em>) in south-central Mexico. We measured the plumage color of museum skins using reflectance spectrometry and digital photography, then used geographic information systems to estimate each specimen's distance from the nearest mining concession and river and determine whether that river's watershed contained mines. Proximity to mines and their downstream rivers was related to ventral (but not dorsal) carotenoid-based coloration; birds collected farther from mines had more vivid yellow-orange breast plumage, and belly plumage was more vivid and redder with increasing distance from rivers with upstream mines. Breast background reflectance unexpectedly decreased with mine distance and was higher among birds whose nearest river had mines upstream. The area (but not reflectance) of melanin-based plumage was also related to mines. The area of dark back streaks decreased with mine distance, while the bib patch was smaller among birds presumably more exposed to mining waste. While some of these results are consistent with predicted effects of HM pollution on plumage, most were not straightforward, and effects differed among plumage patches and variables. Further investigation is needed to understand the direct (e.g., toxicity, oxidative stress) and/or indirect (e.g., decreased availability of carotenoid-rich food) mechanisms responsible and their individual, population, and community-level implications. </p>
Data from: Which plumage patches provide information about condition and success in a female fairy-wren?
<p>Recent evidence suggests that female ornaments can commonly act as signals. However, how signaling functions might be affected by the tendency for reduced ornament elaboration in relation to males is less well understood. We address this in mutually ornamented purple-crowned fairy-wrens. We investigated putatively ornamental (tail, ear coverts, crown) and non-ornamental (throat, back) plumage patches in females and compared our findings to previous studies in males. Both sexes have brown backs, buff-white throats, and turquoise-blue tails (bluer in males), while ear coverts are rufous in females and black in males. Both sexes also have a seasonal crown (slate-grey in females, black-and-purple in males). Dominant (breeder) females expressed more complete and greyer (more ornamented) crowns, although variation in coloration should not be discriminable by individuals. Unexpectedly, subordinates showed more colorful (saturated) rufous ear coverts, which should be discriminable. Condition dependence was only evident for crown completeness (% slate-grey cover). Females with more reddish-brown backs were more reproductively successful. Variation in plumage characteristics did not explain differential allocation by mates or chances of gaining dominance. Our outcomes were not entirely consistent with findings in males. The most notable disparity was for the crown, a signal used in male-male competition that in females seems to be expressed as an incomplete version of the male crown that is not associated with fitness benefits. Our study shows that in a species, multiple traits can vary in their information content and that female ornaments can sometimes be less informative than in males, even those that are produced seasonally.</p>
Ruff in breeding plumage
ID no.: MP 047 Museum: The Krystyna and Włodzimierz Tomek Natural Science Museum in Ciężkowice https://muzea.malopolska.pl/en/objects-list/2386 Digitalisation: RDW MIC, Virtual Małopolska project Source: Objaverse 1.0 / Sketchfab
Data from: Genome-wide variation in DNA methylation is associated with stress resilience and plumage brightness in a wild bird
Individuals often differ in their ability to cope with challenging environmental and social conditions. Evidence from model systems suggests that patterns of DNA methylation are associated with variation in coping ability. These associations could arise directly if methylation plays a role in controlling the physiological response to stressors by, among other things, regulating the release of glucocorticoids in response to challenges. Alternatively, the association could arise indirectly if methylation and resilience have a common cause, such as early life conditions. In either case, methylation might act as a biomarker for coping ability. At present, however, relatively little is known about whether variation in methylation is associated with organismal performance and resilience under natural conditions. We studied genome-wide patterns of DNA methylation in free-living female tree swallows (Tachycineta bicolor) using methylated DNA immunoprecipitation (MeDIP) and a tree swallow genome that was assembled for this study. We identified areas of the genome that were differentially methylated with respect to social signal expression (breast brightness) and physiological traits (ability to terminate the glucocorticoid stress response through negative feedback). We also asked whether methylation predicted resilience to a subsequent experimentally imposed challenge. Individuals with brighter breast plumage and higher stress resilience had lower methylation at differentially methylated regions across the genome. Thus, widespread differences in methylation predicted both social signal expression and the response to future challenges under natural conditions. These results have implications for predicting individual differences in resilience, and for understanding the mechanistic basis of resilience and its environmental and social mediators.
Data from: Fifty shades of brown: Macroevolution of plumage brightness in the Furnariida, a large clade of drab Neotropical passerines
Both natural and sexual selection are thought to affect the evolution of bird color. Most studies of the topic have focused on sexually dichromatic taxa and showy plumages, which are expected to be more influenced by social selection and usually result in increased conspicuousness. However, many bird clades display dull brown or grey plumages that vary greatly in brightness (lightness), but little in hue (shade). Here, we examine the macroevolution of brightness in one such clade, the Furnariida. We make comparisons across light environments, body parts, and across monochromatic lineages and each sex of dichromatic lineages. We found that support for models including light environments is greater for the dorsum than for the venter, and that brightness evolution is more constrained in the latter than in the former. Plumages in this clade have evolved to be darker in darker habitats, consistent with natural selection for increased crypsis. Finally, the features of brightness macroevolution are broadly similar across the sexes of the dichromatic clade, challenging the view that sexual dichromatism is driven by different evolutionary processes acting in each sex. We conclude that, in the Furnariida, light environments and dorsal-ventral variation are more important than sex as axes of color evolution.
Data for: Ecology and behavior predict an evolutionary trade-off between song complexity and elaborate plumages in antwrens (Aves, Thamnophilidae)
<p>The environment can impose constraints on signal transmission properties such that signals should evolve in predictable directions (Sensory Drive Hypothesis). However, behavioral and ecological factors can limit investment in more than one sensory modality leading to a trade-off in use of different signals (Transfer Hypothesis). In birds, there is mixed evidence for both sensory drive and transfer hypothesis. Few studies have tested sensory drive while also evaluating the transfer hypothesis, limiting understanding of the relative roles of these processes in signal evolution. Here, we assessed both hypotheses using acoustic and visual signals in male and female antwrens (Thamnophilidae), a species-rich group that inhabits diverse environments and exhibits behaviors, such as mixed-species flocking, that could limit investment in different signal modalities. We uncovered significant effects of habitat (sensory drive) and mixed-species flocking behavior on both sensory modalities, and we revealed evolutionary trade-offs between song and plumage complexity, consistent with the transfer hypothesis. We also showed sex- and trait-specific responses in visual signals that suggest both natural and social selection play an important role in the evolution of sexual dimorphism. Altogether, these results support the idea that environmental (sensory drive) and behavioral pressures (social selection) shape signal evolution in antwrens.</p>
Social and abiotic factors differentially affect plumage ornamentation of young and old males in an Australian songbird
<p>Both abiotic environmental conditions and variation in social environment are known to impact the acquisition of sexual signals. However, the influences of abiotic environmental and social factors are rarely compared to each other. Here we test the relative importance of these factors in determining whether and when male red-backed fairywrens (<i>Malurus melanocephalus</i>) moult into a known sexual signal, ornamented breeding plumage. One-year-old male red-backed fairywrens vary in whether or not they acquire ornamentation, whereas males age two and older vary in their timing of ornament acquisition. It is unclear whether these processes are determined by the same or different factors and we examine both events using a combination of long-term breeding records and non-breeding social networks. We found that one-year-old males that paired prior to the start of the breeding season were more likely to acquire ornamented plumage, but rainfall did not influence whether one-year-old males acquired ornamented plumage. Thus, for young individuals, social cues appear to play a larger role than abiotic environmental factors in determining ornament acquisition. For older males, timing of ornamented plumage acquisition was constrained by rainfall, with drier non-breeding seasons leading to poorer physiological condition and later moult dates. Thus, sexual signal variation in older males appears to be a condition-dependent trait, driven by abiotic environmental and physiological factors rather than social cues. These findings reveal that factors influencing sexual signal expression can vary with age when age classes exhibit different forms of signal variation. Our results suggest that social environment may drive sexual signal variation in young individuals, whereas abiotic environmental variation may drive sexual signal variation in older individuals.</p>
The genetic basis of plumage coloration and elevation adaptation in a clade of recently diverged alpine and arctic songbirds
<p>Trait genetic architecture plays an important role in the probability that variation in that trait leads to divergence and speciation. In some cases, speciation may be driven by the generation of novel phenotypes through the recombination of genes associated with traits that are important for local adaptation or sexual selection. Here, we investigate the genetic basis of three plumage color traits, and one ecological trait, breeding elevation, in a recent avian radiation, the North American rosy-finches (<em>Leucosticte</em> spp.). We identify unique genomic regions associated with each trait and highlight 11 candidate genes. Among these are well-characterized melanogenesis genes, including Mitf and Tyrp1, and previously reported hypoxia-related genes including Egln1. Additionally, we use mitochondrial data to date the divergence of rosy-finch clades which appear to have diverged within the past 250 ky. Given the low levels of genome-wide differentiation among rosy-finch taxa, and evidence for extensive introgression in North America, plumage coloration and adaptation to high elevations have likely played large roles in generating the observed patterns of lineage divergence. The relative independence of these candidate regions across the genome suggests that recombination might have led to multiple phenotypes, and subsequent rosy-finch speciation, over short periods of time.</p>
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