Dataset Information

Signalling with a cryptic trait: the regularity of barred plumage in common waxbills.

ABSTRACT: Sexual signals often compromise camouflage because of their conspicuousness. Pigmentation patterns, on the contrary, aid in camouflage. It was hypothesized that a particular type of pattern-barred plumage in birds, whereby pigmented bars extend across feathers-could simultaneously signal individual quality, because disruptions of these patterns should be perceptually salient at close range and help assess plumage condition. Here we show that common waxbills (Estrilda astrild), which have extensive barred plumage, have more regular patterns as adults than as juveniles, and that adult males have more regular patterns than females. Both these differences are indicative of sexual signalling in species with conventional sex roles. More regular barred plumage was related to better body condition in adult males. Colour ornamentation traits were also related to aspects of quality, either the same as barred plumage (body condition) or a different one (good feather development), supporting both the 'redundant message' and the 'multiple message' hypotheses for the coexistence of multiple sexual signals. Although receiver responses to the regularity of barred plumage were not studied here, research on other species has shown that barred plumage can mediate social interactions. We conclude that using barred plumage as a signal of quality helps circumvent the functional compromise between camouflage and communication.

SUBMITTER: Marques CI

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4892462 | biostudies-other | 2016 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-other

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Signalling with a cryptic trait: the regularity of barred plumage in common waxbills.

Marques Cristiana I J CI Batalha Helena R HR Cardoso Gonçalo C GC

Royal Society open science 20160504 5

Sexual signals often compromise camouflage because of their conspicuousness. Pigmentation patterns, on the contrary, aid in camouflage. It was hypothesized that a particular type of pattern-barred plumage in birds, whereby pigmented bars extend across feathers-could simultaneously signal individual quality, because disruptions of these patterns should be perceptually salient at close range and help assess plumage condition. Here we show that common waxbills (Estrilda astrild), which have extensi ...[more]

PMID: 27293800

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Project description:BackgroundCarotenoids are frequently used by birds to colour their plumage with green, yellow, orange or red hues, and carotenoid-based colours are considered honest signals of quality, although they may have other functions, such as crypsis. It is usually assumed that red through yellow colours have a signalling function while green is cryptic. Here we challenge this notion using the yellow and green colouration of blue tits (Cyanistes caeruleus), great tits (Parus major) and greenfinches (Carduelis chloris) as a model.ResultsThe relationship between colouration (chroma, computed using visual sensitivities of conspecifics) and detectability (contrast against natural backgrounds as perceived by conspecifics and avian predators) followed a similar curvilinear pattern for yellow and green plumage with minimum detectability at intermediate levels of carotenoid deposition. Thus, for yellow and green plumage, colours at or close to the point of minimum detectability may aid in crypsis. This may be the case for blue and great tit green and yellow plumage, and greenfinch green plumage, all of which had comparably low levels of detectability, while greenfinch yellow plumage was more chromatic and detectable. As yellow and green blue tit colouration are strongly affected by carotenoid availability during moult, variation in pigment availability between habitats may affect the degree of background-matching or the costliness of producing cryptic plumage.ConclusionsIncreasing carotenoid-deposition in the integument does not always lead to more conspicuous colours. In some cases, such as in blue or great tits, carotenoid deposition may be selected through enhanced background-matching, which in turn suggests that producing cryptic plumage may entail costs. We stress however, that our data do not rule out a signalling function of carotenoid-based plumage in tits. Rather, it shows that alternative functions are plausible and that assuming a signalling function based solely on the deposition of carotenoids in the integument may not be warranted.

Dataset Information

Signalling with a cryptic trait: the regularity of barred plumage in common waxbills.

Publications

Signalling with a cryptic trait: the regularity of barred plumage in common waxbills.

Similar Datasets

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