Search results for "visual predation"
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Gray plumage color is more cryptic than brown in snowy landscapes in a resident color polymorphic bird
2020
Abstract Camouflage may promote fitness of given phenotypes in different environments. The tawny owl (Strix aluco) is a color polymorphic species with a gray and brown morph resident in the Western Palearctic. A strong selection pressure against the brown morph during snowy and cold winters has been documented earlier, but the selection mechanisms remain unresolved. Here, we hypothesize that selection favors the gray morph because it is better camouflaged against predators and mobbers in snowy conditions compared to the brown one. We conducted an online citizen science experiment where volunteers were asked to locate a gray or a brown tawny owl specimen from pictures taken in snowy and snow…
Data from: Gray plumage color is more cryptic than brown in snowy landscapes in a resident color polymorphic bird
2020
Camouflage may promote fitness of given phenotypes in different environments. The tawny owl (Strix aluco) is a colour polymorphic species with a grey and brown morph resident in the Western Palearctic. A strong selection pressure against the brown morph during snowy and cold winters has been documented earlier but the selection mechanisms remain unresolved. Here we hypothesise that selection favors the grey morph because it is better camouflaged against predators and mobbers in snowy conditions compared to the brown one. We conducted an online citizen science experiment where volunteers were asked to locate a grey or a brown tawny owl specimen from pictures taken in snowy and snowless lands…