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Behavioral Ecology Advance Access published online on May 11, 2006
Behavioral Ecology, doi:10.1093/beheco/ark014
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© The Author 2006. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the International Society for Behavioral Ecology. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oxfordjournals.org
Received February 22, 2006
Revised March 29, 2006
Accepted April 5, 2006

Article

Experimental evidence that egg color indicates female condition at laying in a songbird

Juan Moreno 1 *, Elisa Lobato 1, Judith Morales 1, Santiago Merino 1, Gustavo Tomás 1, Josué Martínez-de la Puente 1, Juan J. Sanz 1, Rafael Mateo 2, and Juan J. Soler 3

1 Departamento de Ecología Evolutiva, Museo Nacional de Ciencias Naturales-Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Cientificas (CSIC), J. Gutiérrez Abascal 2, E-28006 Madrid, Spain
2 Instituto de Investigación en Recursos Cinegéticos-CSIC, Ronda de Toledo S/N, 13005 Ciudad Real, Spain
3 Departamento de Ecología Funcional y Evolutiva, Estación Experimental de Zonas Áridas-CSIC, General Segura 1, E-04001 Almería, Spain

* To whom correspondence should be addressed.
Juan Moreno, E-mail: jmoreno{at}mncn.csic.es


  Abstract

The signaling hypothesis of eggshell coloration in birds is based on the assumption that females of species with blue-green eggs signal their phenotypic quality to their mates through deposition of the antioxidant biliverdin as pigment. Egg pigmentation may be an expression of the condition of females at laying or of genetic linkages between egg color and female performance variables. We have supplemented 16 pied flycatcher, Ficedula hypoleuca, females with mealworms before and during laying and compared the mass and color of their eggs as measured on the day of laying to those of 16 control females with the same nest construction and laying dates and clutch sizes. Supplemented females laid significantly heavier and more intensely blue-green eggs than control females. Egg blue-green chroma was significantly associated with the amount of biliverdin in eggshells. Egg color, and thus biliverdin content, is an expression of female condition at laying.

Keywords: biliverdin; color analysis; egg coloration; eggshell pigments; female condition; food supplement; nutrition; phenotypic quality; sexual selection; signaling.
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