Abstract
The Florida Scrub-Jay is a monogamous cooperative breeder in which both males and females display extensive structurally based blue plumage. Juveniles of this species exhibit blue tail and wing feathers that they begin growing as nestlings, and some of these feathers are retained throughout their first year. Although the birds appear to be sexually monochromatic, we assessed whether cryptic dichromatism exists in both the magnitude and pattern of coloration in tail feathers of juvenile Florida Scrub-Jays. We then determined whether variation in plumage coloration is associated with nutritional condition during molt. Tails of juvenile male Florida Scrub-Jays exhibit a greater proportion of UV reflectance than those of females. Mass at age 11 days and ptilochronology of the juvenile tail feathers were used as measures of individual nutritional condition during feather growth, and the latter was found to be positively associated with UV chroma. These data demonstrate that Florida Scrub-Jays are sexually dichromatic and suggest that variation in plumage color may be condition dependent, although we cannot rule out alternative explanations. Juvenile plumage coloration, therefore, has the potential to function as a signal of individual quality in both males and females.
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Acknowledgments
We are grateful to C. Brand and R. Montgomerie for spectral processing programs and to the staff and scientists at Archbold Biological Station and G. Hill for support during the course of this research. A. Roulin, T. W. P. Friedl and anonymous reviewers greatly improved the quality of the manuscript. The data collected in this paper comply with the current laws of the USA.
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Siefferman, L., Shawkey, M.D., Bowman, R. et al. Juvenile coloration of Florida Scrub-Jays (Aphelocoma coerulescens) is sexually dichromatic and correlated with condition. J Ornithol 149, 357–363 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10336-008-0289-7
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10336-008-0289-7