Skip Navigation



Behavioral Ecology Advance Access published online on September 29, 2006
Behavioral Ecology, doi:10.1093/beheco/arl054
This Article
Right arrow FREE Full Text (PDF) Freely available
Right arrow Lay Summary
Right arrow All Versions of this Article:
18/1/34    most recent
arl054v1
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Add to My Personal Archive
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrowRequest Permissions
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Jacot, A.
Right arrow Articles by Kempenaers, B.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow Articles by Jacot, A.
Right arrow Articles by Kempenaers, B.
Social Bookmarking
Add to CiteULike   Add to Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us  
What's this?

© 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 January 25, 2006
Revised August 3, 2006
Accepted August 12, 2006

Article

Effects of nestling condition on UV plumage traits in blue tits: an experimental approach

Alain Jacot 1 * and Bart Kempenaers 1

1 Max Planck Institute for Ornithology, Department of Behavioural Ecology and Evolutionary Genetics, P.O. Box 1564, 82305 Starnberg (Seewiesen), Germany

* To whom correspondence should be addressed.
Alain Jacot, E-mail: jacot{at}orn.mpg.de


  Abstract

Intraspecific sexual and social communications are among the most important factors shaping costly color traits in birds. Condition capture models assume that only animals in superior condition can develop and maintain a colorful plumage. Although there is good evidence that carotenoid-based components of plumage colors show condition dependence, the situation is more controversial with the underlying UV-reflecting structural component. We conducted a brood size manipulation in blue tits (Parus caeruleus) to investigate condition-dependent effects on plumage coloration in male and female offspring. Carotenoid chroma and UV reflectance of the yellow breast plumage showed condition-dependent expression in male and female fledglings. However, only males that were raised in reduced broods had higher UV reflectance in the UV/blue tail feathers, whereas female tail coloration did not differ between treatments. Our data suggest that there is a sex-specific effect on the blue but not the yellow plumage and that this is related to differences in the signaling function of both plumage traits. Although sexual selection may already act on male nestlings to develop colorful tail feathers for the next breeding season, the UV/yellow breast feathers are molted during the postjuvenile molt, and their signaling value is likely to be important for both sexes during the extended postfledgling phase.

Keywords: carotenoids; condition dependence; Cyanistes caeruleus; Parus caeruleus; plumage color; UV.
Add to CiteULike CiteULike   Add to Connotea Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us Del.icio.us    What's this?


This article has been cited by other articles:


Home page
 Behav EcolHome page
M. Tanner and H. Richner
Ultraviolet reflectance of plumage for parent-offspring communication in the great tit (Parus major)
Behav. Ecol., March 1, 2008; 19(2): 369 - 373.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]


Disclaimer: Please note that abstracts for content published before 1996 were created through digital scanning and may therefore not exactly replicate the text of the original print issues. All efforts have been made to ensure accuracy, but the Publisher will not be held responsible for any remaining inaccuracies. If you require any further clarification, please contact our Customer Services Department.