Female and male plumage brightness correlate with nesting failure in azure-winged magpies Cyanopica cyanus.

Jesús M. Avilés (1) , Elena Solís (2) , Juliana Valencia (3) , Carlos de La Cruz (2) , Gabriele Sorci (4)

1 Departamento de Biología Animal y Ecología
2 Departamento de Biologia Animal
3 Catedra de Biologia y Etologia
4 BGS - Biogéosciences [UMR 6282]

Animals may assess the quality of other individuals by using information that is contained in elaborate traits. We investigated the degree of sexual dimorphism in structural blue plumage coloration and the potential signal value of these traits in the azure-winged magpie Cyanopica cyanus. We predicted that in this species blue coloration should signal individual quality in both sexes since both females and males invest significantly in caring for offspring. Males have more saturated UV/blue coloration than females and blueness decreased from moulting to reproduction. Males and females did not mate assortatively for blue coloration although they did in relation to body size and condition. Blue colour did not correlate with adult body size or condition. However, nest predation decreased with female and male brightness. Our results suggest that blue coloration may potentially be used to assess parental qualities by potential mates in both sexes of the azure-winged magpie.

Mots clés: sexual selection; seasonal-changes; signal; color; quality

Domaines: Zoologie des vertébrés; Biodiversité et Ecologie; Evolution [q-bio.PE]; Interactions entre organismes

Jesús M. Avilés, Elena Solís, Juliana Valencia, Carlos de La Cruz, Gabriele Sorci. Female and male plumage brightness correlate with nesting failure in azure-winged magpies Cyanopica cyanus.. Journal of Avian Biology, 2008, 39 (2), pp.257-261. ⟨10.1111/j.0908-8857.2008.04218.x⟩. ⟨hal-00356774⟩