Sexual selection in a socially monogamous bird: male color predicts paternity success in the mountain bluebird, <Emphasis Type="Italic">Sialia currucoides</Emphasis> |
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Authors: | Susan L Balenger L Scott Johnson Brian S Masters |
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Institution: | (1) Department of Biological Sciences, Towson University, Towson, MD, USA;(2) Department of Biological Sciences, Auburn University, Auburn, AL 36849, USA |
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Abstract: | Ornamental traits are thought to evolve because they give individuals an advantage in securing multiple mates. Thus, the presence
of ornamentation among males in many monogamous bird species presents something of a conundrum. Under certain conditions,
extra-pair paternity can increase the variance in reproductive success among males, thus increasing the potential for sexual
selection to act. We addressed this possibility in the mountain bluebird (Sialia currucoides), a socially monogamous songbird in which males possess brilliant ultraviolet (UV)-blue plumage. Specifically, we asked whether
a male’s success at siring offspring within his own nest and within the nests of other males was related to his coloration.
In pairwise comparisons, males that sired extra-pair offspring were not more colorful than the males that they cuckolded.
However, males that sired at least one extra-pair offspring were, on average, brighter and more UV-blue than males that did
not sire extra-pair offspring. Brighter, more UV-blue males sired more offspring both with their own mate and tended to sire
more offspring with extra-pair mates and thus sired more offspring overall. Our results support the hypothesis that the brilliant
UV-blue ornamental plumage of male mountain bluebirds evolved at least in part because it provides males with an advantage
in fertilizing the eggs of multiple females. |
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Keywords: | Extra-pair paternity Mountain bluebird Sexual selection Sialia currucoides Structural plumage color |
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