Abstract
Individuals differ in their ability to cope with energetically demanding situations while caring for the current brood, and they can signal this ability by their colouration. We examined the impact of handicapping (clipping of wing and tail feathers) on an energetically demanding care behaviour (incubation) in female Great Tits (Parus major). We hypothesised that the intensity of carotenoid-based breast feather colouration signals the ability to cope with impaired flight ability and the consequent increased energetic demands. If this is the case, females with more intensely coloured feathers should cope better with the handicap compared with less intensely coloured females, i.e. the impact of handicapping on mass loss and nest attentiveness should be negatively correlated with colouration. Handicapped females lost more weight than control females but did not decrease nest attentiveness to a greater extent, suggesting that females take the costs of handicapping on themselves. Females in poor condition were more severely influenced by handicapping. Intensity of female breast feather colouration did not correlate with either change in nest attentiveness or body mass loss during incubation. Intensity of breast feather colouration therefore does not appear to signal female ability to cope with this energetically demanding situation during incubation.
Zusammenfassung
Reaktionen auf erhöhte Kosten bei der Bebrütung von Singvögeln mit Inkubation ausschließlich durch das Weibchen: Ist die Gefiederfarbe ein Anzeichen für bessere Stressbewältigung? Individuen unterscheiden sich in ihrer Fähigkeit mit energetisch ungünstigen Situationen während der Brutpflege umzugehen und sie zeigen dies anhand ihrer Gefiederfarbe. Wir untersuchten die Auswirkung einer zusätzlichen Belastung (dem Stutzen von Flügel- und Schwanzfedern) auf die Energie aufwändige Inkubation bei Weibchen der Kohlmeise (Parus major). Wir nahmen dabei an, dass die Intensität der auf Karotinoiden basierenden Färbung der Brustfedern die Fähigkeit anzeigt, mit der energetisch kostspieligen Einschränkung der Flugfähigkeiten umzugehen. Sollte dies der Fall sein, sollten intensiver gefärbte Weibchen besser mit der zusätzlichen Belastung umgehen können, als weniger stark gefärbte Weibchen. Dementsprechend sollten der Masseverlust und die Nestattraktivität negativ mit der Gefiederfärbung korreliert sein. Weibchen mit gestutzten Federn nahmen stärker ab als die Weibchen der Kontrollgruppe, hatten aber nicht deutlich unattraktivere Nester, was darauf hindeutet, dass beeinträchtigte Weibchen die Mehrkosten durch die zusätzliche Belastung auf sich nehmen. Bereits schwache Weibchen wurden durch die zusätzliche Belastung stärker beeinträchtigt. Die Intensität der Färbung des Brustgefieders korrelierte weder mit Nestattraktivität noch mit Gewichtsverlust während der Inkubation. Das deutet darauf hin, dass die Färbung des Brustgefieders nicht auf die Fähigkeit der Stressbewältigung eines Weibchens während der Inkubation schließen lässt.
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Acknowledgments
We are grateful to Freya Harrison and Miloš Krist for helpful comments on the manuscript. This study was supported by the Czech Ministry of Education (MSM6198959212). It complies with the current laws of the Czech Republic.
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Communicated by T. Friedl.
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Matysioková, B., Remeš, V. Responses to increased costs of activity during incubation in a songbird with female-only incubation: does feather colour signal coping ability?. J Ornithol 152, 337–346 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10336-010-0594-9
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10336-010-0594-9