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Diet quality affects an attractive white plumage pattern in dark-eyed juncos (Junco hyemalis)

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Abstract

Sexually selected traits that act as signals of quality often display some degree of condition dependence. In birds, condition dependence of ornamental plumage is often mediated by production costs related to acquisition or allocation of dietary resources. White plumage ornaments, however, have often been assumed to be inexpensive because their production requires neither pigment nor specialized feather structure. In male dark-eyed juncos (Junco hyemalis), the size of a white patch on the tail contributes to attractiveness and mating success. Using captive males, we examined the effects of diet quality on the size and brightness of the tail-white patch. After removing four tail feathers to induce replacement, we maintained subjects on a subsistence (low-protein) or enriched (high-protein) diet while induced feathers grew. Birds that received an enriched diet grew their feathers more quickly and grew larger, brighter white patches. Feather growth rate was positively correlated with the increase in the size of the tail-white patch, a relationship that was stronger in the subsistence diet group. However, within diet treatments, faster-grown feathers were slightly duller. Taken together, these results suggest that variation in diet quality may lead to condition-dependent expression of tail white and that condition dependence may be stronger in more stressful environments. We suggest a mechanism by which increased feather growth rate may lead to an increase in the size of the tail-white patch and discuss potential trade-offs between signal size and brightness.

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Acknowledgements

This paper is dedicated to the memory of Bill Rowland, who served as the director of the National Science Foundation (NSF) Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU) program at the Center for the Integrative Study of Animal Behavior (CISAB), during which this research was conducted. Bill’s questions encouraged us to think about our data in a new way. We also thank W. Wolf and T. Greives for their assistance in the aviary; D. Cristol for measurement advice; B. Heidinger, E. Kelso, M. Maas, S. Pruett-Jones, R. Prum, and three anonymous reviewers for comments on an earlier version of the manuscript; and H. Wilbur for statistical advice. This work was supported by the NSF REU sites award DBI 98-20422 to CISAB, NSF grant IBN 97-28384 to EDK and V. Nolan, a NSF Graduate Research Fellowship to JWM, and a National Institutes of Health Ruth L. Kirschstein National Research Service Award (F32 HD40721) to DLD from the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development. This research complies with the laws and regulations of the U.S.A. and Indiana, and all procedures were approved by the Bloomington Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee.

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  1. Deborah L. Duffy

    Present address: Department of Clinical Studies, Center for the Interaction of Animals and Society, School of Veterinary Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, 19104, USA

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Biology, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN, 47405, USA

    Joel W. McGlothlin, Deborah L. Duffy, Jessica L. Henry-Freeman & Ellen D. Ketterson

  2. Center for the Integrative Study of Animal Behavior, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN, 47405, USA

    Joel W. McGlothlin, Deborah L. Duffy, Jessica L. Henry-Freeman & Ellen D. Ketterson

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  1. Joel W. McGlothlin
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  2. Deborah L. Duffy
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Correspondence to Joel W. McGlothlin.

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Communicated by S. Pruett-Jones

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McGlothlin, J.W., Duffy, D.L., Henry-Freeman, J.L. et al. Diet quality affects an attractive white plumage pattern in dark-eyed juncos (Junco hyemalis). Behav Ecol Sociobiol 61, 1391–1399 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00265-007-0370-x

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