Abstract
Both male and female Roseate Terns (Sterna dougallii) have unusually long outer tail feathers, and males tend to have longer tails than females. We examined whether these tail streamers may have evolved as a result of sexual selection, using data from a 15-year study at Bird Island, Massachusetts, USA. Data on tail length were analyzed for 2,515 terns, of which 745 were of known sex. Tail length was positively correlated with predictors of reproductive success, such as laying date, body mass, and age, and thus can act as an indicator of mate quality. The increase in mean tail length with age appeared to result from a combination of growth in relatively young terns and differential survival among older terns. The mean duration of pair bonds was short at 1.73 years. A female-biased sex ratio is present in this population, and we demonstrated that short-tailed females are not preferred mates: females paired to males had longer tails than those in female–female pairs or other multi-female associations. In male–female pairs, tail lengths of mates were correlated, but this may have resulted in part from the correlation in ages. These observations are consistent with the hypothesis that tail streamers are used by both sexes in mate choice. In contrast to our results for tail length, tail symmetry was not significantly related to indices of individual quality and was not significantly correlated between mates.
Zusammenfassung
Schwanzlänge und sexuelle Selektion in der monogamen und monomorphen Rosenseeschwalbe Sterna dougallii
Männliche wie weibliche Rosenseeschwalben (Sterna dougallii) haben ungewöhnlich lange äußere Schwanzfedern, wobei die der Männchen normalerweise noch länger sind. Anhand der Daten einer 15 jährigen Studie auf Bird Island in Massachusetts (USA) untersuchten wir, ob diese Schwanzfedern aufgrund sexueller Selektion entstanden. Wir untersuchten die Schwanzlängen von 2,515 Seeschwalben, wobei 745 bekannten Geschlechts waren. Schwanzlänge war positiv korreliert mit Variablen, die den Reproduktionserfolg beeinflussen (Legedatum, Körpermasse, Alter), und könnte daher als Anzeichen für die Qualität des Brutpartners verwendet werden. Das Wachstum junger Seeschwalben und ungleiche Überlebensraten älterer Individuen schien die Verlängerung der Schwanzfedern mit dem Alter zu bedingen. Die mittlere Dauer einer Paarbindung war 1,73 Jahre. In der Studienpopulation war ein Weibchenüberschuss gegeben und wir fanden, dass kurzschwänzige Weibchen nicht die bevorzugten Partner waren: Weibchen, die mit Männchen verpaart waren, hatten längere Schwanzfedern, als solche in Paaren von zwei Weibchen oder anderen Weibchenverbänden. In Männchen-Weibchen Paaren waren die Schwanzlängen der Partner korreliert, aber das mag zum Teil an der Korrelation der Alter von Paarpartnern gelegen haben. Diese Beobachtungen stimmen mit der Vermutung überein, dass die Länge der Schwanzfedern von beiden Geschlechtern in der Partnerwahl berücksichtigt wird. Entgegen der Ergebnisse für Schwanzlänge war die Symmetrie der Schwanzfedern kein Indiz für individuelle Qualität und war zwischen Partnern nicht signifikant korreliert.
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Acknowledgments
J. Spendelow coordinated studies of Roseate Terns at this and other sites and assisted with the 2009 measurements, and T. Sabo sexed most of the birds. We thank J. Spendelow, R. Trivers, P. Becker, C. Lessells, R. Ydenberg, and the referees for comments on previous versions of the manuscript, and C. Mostello, the Massachusetts Division of Fisheries and Wildlife, and the Town of Marion for logistic support and permission to work at Bird Island. Partial financial support was provided by the New Bedford Harbor Trustee Council, Massachusetts Audubon Society, Island Foundation, National Science Foundation (BIR-9322162), U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, U.S. Geological Survey, and Wagner College. The procedures used were approved by the USGS-PWRC Animal Care and Use Committee and comply with the laws of the United States of America.
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Palestis, B.G., Nisbet, I.C.T., Hatch, J.J. et al. Tail length and sexual selection in a monogamous, monomorphic species, the Roseate Tern Sterna dougallii . J Ornithol 153, 1153–1163 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10336-012-0846-y
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10336-012-0846-y