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      Male fairy-wrens produce and maintain vibrant breeding colors irrespective of individual quality

      1 , 2 , 1 , 3 , 1 , 4 , 1 , 1
      Behavioral Ecology
      Oxford University Press (OUP)

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          Abstract

          Conspicuous colors may signal individual quality if high-quality individuals produce more elaborate colors or have a greater capacity to invest in color maintenance. We investigate these hypotheses using repeated within-individual observations and experimentally induced color production in a wild bird, the superb fairy-wren (Malurus cyaneus). Male superb fairy-wrens undergo an annual molt from brown, nonbreeding plumage to an ultraviolet-blue and black breeding plumage. Color maintenance is especially relevant for this species because structural, ultraviolet-blue plumage colors are particularly susceptible to fading. Further, only the most sexually attractive males molt to breeding plumage early (before spring) and thereby keep their colors for an extended time before the breeding season. Our results show that (i) sexually attractive, early-molting males do not have higher quality breeding colors and (ii) breeding colors are not impacted by experimentally inducing males to molt early and while in low body condition. We found that (iii) breeding colors do not fade but remain consistent or become more saturated within individuals over time. Despite this, (iv) males do not spend more time preening while in breeding plumage. Instead, males keep their colors in pristine condition by re-molting parts of their breeding plumage throughout the breeding season, suggesting an alternative, potential cost of maintaining ornamental colors. We conclude that variation in structural breeding colors is unlikely to indicate individual quality in superb fairy-wrens.

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          Fitting Linear Mixed-Effects Models Usinglme4

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            Sexual Selection

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              The biology of color.

              Coloration mediates the relationship between an organism and its environment in important ways, including social signaling, antipredator defenses, parasitic exploitation, thermoregulation, and protection from ultraviolet light, microbes, and abrasion. Methodological breakthroughs are accelerating knowledge of the processes underlying both the production of animal coloration and its perception, experiments are advancing understanding of mechanism and function, and measurements of color collected noninvasively and at a global scale are opening windows to evolutionary dynamics more generally. Here we provide a roadmap of these advances and identify hitherto unrecognized challenges for this multi- and interdisciplinary field.
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                Author and article information

                Contributors
                (View ORCID Profile)
                Journal
                Behavioral Ecology
                Oxford University Press (OUP)
                1045-2249
                1465-7279
                December 22 2020
                December 22 2020
                Affiliations
                [1 ]School of Biological Sciences, Monash University, Wellington Road, Clayton, Victoria, Australia
                [2 ]Centre for Integrative Ecology, School of Life and Environmental Sciences, Deakin University, Burwood Highway, Burwood, Victoria, Australia
                [3 ]Max Planck Institute for Ornithology, Eberhard-Gwinner-Straße, Seewiesen, Germany
                [4 ]Departamento de Recursos Naturales y Gestión Ambiental, Estación Experimental Agropecuaria Paraná, Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria (INTA) and CONICET, Oro Verde, Entre Ríos, Argentina
                Article
                10.1093/beheco/araa128
                d8820524-0c1d-4b25-8a88-e209031a0062
                © 2020

                https://academic.oup.com/journals/pages/open_access/funder_policies/chorus/standard_publication_model

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