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Multiple coloured ornaments in male common kestrels: different mechanisms to convey quality

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Abstract

The simultaneous exhibition of more than one secondary sexual trait is a widespread phenomenon in nature, though it has rarely been explored. It has been proposed that different ornaments may convey complementary or back-up information about a single aspect of individual quality (redundancy hypothesis) or that each ornament may convey unique information (multiple-messages hypothesis). During a 5-year period, we measured several carotenoid-based (eye ring, bill cere and tarsi skin) and melanin-based (head, back, rump and tail feathers) potential ornamental colours in male common kestrels. We analysed whether multiple ornaments can convey different or related information about individual quality. We explored whether different ornaments can express different information depending on the pigment (carotenoids or melanins), the time-scale over which the ornament can change (dynamic vs. static) and the season of the year when the ornament is formed. We found that both melanin- and carotenoid- based traits correlated with indexes of quality, including body condition, body condition of their partners and laying date. However, not all ornaments correlated with the same measures of quality. In addition, some ornaments were intercorrelated within the same individuals while others were not. These results suggest that different ornaments can convey information about different qualities, as predicted by the multiple-messages hypothesis. In addition, this study suggests that the predominant pigment (e.g. carotenoid vs. melanin, eumelanin vs. pheomelanin), the time-scale over which the trait is developed (static feathers vs. dynamic skin) and the season of the year at which the ornament is produced can be potential mechanisms to convey different messages in male common kestrels.

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Acknowledgments

We thank the Finat family and Juan San Teodoro for their collaboration in our studies. J. Martínez-Padilla, L. De Neve, I. López-Rull, M.C. López Agúndez and J. Navarro helped in the field. L. Pérez-Rodríguez, A. Roulin and three anonymous referees provided valuable comments. L. Pérez-Rodríguez helped with colour measurements. J. Haines revised the English. P. Vergara was supported by a postdoctoral contract from Ministerio de Educación y Ciencia, We held all the necessary licences for catching kestrels. This study was financed by the Ministerio de Educación y Ciencia of Spain (Project: CGL2004-04479/BOS).

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  1. School of Biological Sciences, University of Aberdeen, Zoology Building, Tillydrone Avenue, 18, Aberdeen, AB24 2TZ, UK

    Pablo Vergara

  2. Departamento de Ecología Evolutiva, Museo Nacional de Ciencias Naturales—CSIC, José Gutiérrez Abascal 2, 28006, Madrid, Spain

    Pablo Vergara & Juan A. Fargallo

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  1. Pablo Vergara
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  2. Juan A. Fargallo
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Correspondence to Pablo Vergara.

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Vergara, P., Fargallo, J.A. Multiple coloured ornaments in male common kestrels: different mechanisms to convey quality. Naturwissenschaften 98, 289–298 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00114-011-0767-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00114-011-0767-2

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