Search results for "Plumage"

Different Scales of Spatial Segregation of Two Species of Feather Mites on the Wings of a Passerine Bird

2011

The "condition-specific competition hypothesis" proposes that coexistence of 2 species is possible when spatial or temporal variations in environmental conditions exist and each species responds differently to those conditions. The distribution of different species of feather mites on their hosts is known to be affected by intrinsic host factors such as structure of feathers and friction among feathers during flight, but there is also evidence that external factors such as humidity and temperature can affect mite distribution. Some feather mites have the capacity to move through the plumage rather rapidly, and within-host variation in intensity of sunlight could be one of the cues involved …

How Did the Cuckoo Get Its Polymorphic Plumage?

2012

One hundred and fifty years ago, the English naturalist Henry Walter Bates first developed the theory of mimicry ( 1 ). Based on his field observations in the Amazon, he argued that the uncanny likeness of unrelated butterflies is an evolutionary adaptation whereby edible butterflies avoid predation by imitating the coloration of venomous butterfly species without paying the cost of arming themselves. Such “Batesian mimicry” is a dynamic parasitic game between three players, in which a harmless species (the mimic) escapes predation by imitating the warning signals of harmful species (the model) that a shared predator (the dupe) has learned to avoid. On page 578 of this issue, Thorogood and …

Extra-pair paternity and male characteristics in the pied flycatcher

1995

The pied flycatcher (Ficedula hypoleuca) is sexually dichromatic with extreme variation in male plumage coloration. The benefit for males of having black plumage is controversial, and few studies have found evidence for a sexual selection benefit of being black rather than brown. However, blacker males may be better able to achieve extra-pair fertilizations (EPFs), which may be an important component of sexual selection. We studied the role of EPFs in sexual selection in the pied flycatcher by establishing a set-up where two males with different back coloration (blacker vs browner) bred simultaneously near each other. DNA fingerprinting analysis revealed that 11% of offspring resulted from …

Delayed maturation in plumage colour: Evidence for the female-mimicry hypothesis in the kestrel

1993

In many sexually dichromatic species, young males have female-like plumage during their first potential breeding year. The female-mimicry hypothesis (FMH) supposes that by possessing female-like plumage young males deceive older conspicuous males into believing that they are females, thus reducing competition from adult males. The status-signalling hypothesis (SSH) supposes that adult males can distinguish sex, but postulates that young males reduce competition from adult males by reliably signaling low status with their dull plumage. We tested these hypotheses in the European kestrel (Falco tinnunculus). Female-like young males settled to breed closer to adult males than did other adult ma…

2021

Because of its parasitic habits, reproduction costs of the common cuckoo (Cuculus canorus) are mostly spent in pre-laying activities. Female costs are limited to searching host nests and laying eggs, whereas, males spend time in performing intense vocal displays, possibly with territorial purpose. This last aspect, together with a sexual plumage dimorphism, points to both intra- and inter-sexual selections operating within this species. One element triggering sexual selection is a differential fitness accrued by different phenotypes. Before analyzing possible sexual selection mechanisms operating in cuckoos, it is therefore necessary to verify whether there is a variability among male secon…

Male coloration and species recognition in sympatric flycatchers

1994

Currently favoured views for explaining ornaments in males emphasize female preference such that females benefit from increased offspring production, good genes of the offspring, or the attractiveness of sons. Results from long-term studies in the pied flycatcher Ficedula hypoleuca suggest that factors associated with species recognition may also be important for male coloration. In sympatry the collared flycatcher F. albicollis is dominant in competition for nesting sites over the pied flycatcher. Bright pied flycatcher males resemble collared flycatcher males and suffer from interspecific interference, whereas dull and female-like males can acquire nesting sites close to those of the coll…

Heterospecific female mimicry in Ficedula flycatchers

2014

Mimicry is a widespread phenomenon. Vertebrate visual mimicry often operates in an intraspecific sexual context, with some males resembling conspecific females. Pied flycatcher (Ficedula hypoleuca) dorsal plumage varies from the ancestral black to female-like brown. Experimental studies have shown that conspecific and heterospecific (collared flycatcher, F. albicollis) individuals of both sexes respond, at least initially, to brown individuals as if they were female. We quantified the perceptual and biochemical differences between brown feathers and found that brown pied flycatcher males are indistinguishable from heterospecific, but not from conspecific, females in both aspects. To our kno…

Phylogeny and species limits in the Palaearctic chiffchaffPhylloscopus collybitacomplex: mitochondrial genetic differentiation and bioacoustic eviden…

1996

Nucleotide sequences of the mitochondrial cytochrome b gene (1041 bp), analysis of vocalizations and behavioural evidence from zones of contact were used to reassess the species limits and phylogenetic relationships at the species and subspecies levels in the Phylloscopus collybita complex. A new classification is proposed which recognizes four biological species. Phylloscopus brehmii (Iberia) and P. canariensis (Canary Islands) are genetically and bioacoustically highly distinct. There is no mitochondrial gene flow between them or with P. collybita. The Mountain Chiffchaff P. sindianus (with subspecies sindianus and Iorenzii) is equally distinct genetically from southwest Asian subspecies …

Health parameters and sexual signalling in yearling black grouse males (Tetrao tetrix)

2006

Morphological and Biometric Features of Male BluethroatsLuscinia svecicain Central Iberia

2011

Summary. In order to test biometrics and plumage variability in bluethroats Luscinia svecica in central Iberia, 185 birds were captured in four areas (Sierra-Bejar, Sierra-Piedrahita, Sierra-Gredos and Sierra-Paramera). Older bluethroats were significantly larger than second calendar year birds in wing, tail, and total body lengths, but not in tarsus and bill lengths. A multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) and a principal component analysis (PCA) were used. Total body length only varied significantly between sampling areas: the birds from Sierra-Bejar were larger than those from Sierra-Gredos and Sierra-Paramera, but were similar to those of Sierra-Piedrahita. Birds with a white spot,…