Are brighter eggs better? Egg color and parental investment by House Wrens

Walters, Lindsey A.; Getty, Thomas

doi:10.1111/j.1557-9263.2010.00273.x

Cited by 18 publications

(20 citation statements)

References 51 publications

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“…provisioning rate) have actually been reported before (e.g. in house wrens, Troglodytes aedon , Walters & Getty ), but we now must employ experimental approaches to determine whether females adjust maternal behaviour according to their egg colour signals per se .…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 83%

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Eggshell coloration reflects both yolk characteristics and dietary carotenoid history of female mallards

Butler

McGraw

2013

Functional Ecology

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Summary1. Avian eggshell coloration has frequently been examined in a functional context (e.g. mimicry, camouflage), but in recent years, an interest has emerged in identifying the mechanisms that drive eggshell colour variation. 2. Eggshell coloration is predominately caused by pigment deposition; one such pigment is the antioxidant biliverdin, and deposition of biliverdin into eggshells may be costly to mothers due to depletion of their antioxidant reserves. Previous work has shown that dietary supplementation during laying with another type of antioxidant -carotenoid pigments -induces females to produce more biliverdin-rich eggshells. However, the impact of pre-laying nutrition -including the developmental period early in life -on eggshell coloration has not been investigated. 3. Here, we raised female mallards (Anas platyrhynchos) from hatching, supplemented their diets with carotenoids during early-, mid-or late-developmental periods, and at adulthood measured female circulating carotenoid levels, yolk carotenoid levels, and eggshell coloration. We found that carotenoid supplementation during the late stages of development (transitional period from juvenile to adult plumage) promoted the laying of eggs with more biliverdin-rich eggshells. Independent of developmental dietary treatment, females with higher circulating carotenoid levels at the time of egg laying produced more biliverdin-rich eggshells and more carotenoid-rich yolks. When controlling for female identity, we found that more biliverdin-rich eggshells were associated with more carotenoid-rich, but smaller, yolks. We also detected a laying order effect; later-laid eggs had larger, less carotenoid-rich yolks and less biliverdin-rich eggshells. 4. Taken together, these results demonstrate that eggshell coloration reveals carotenoid status of both mothers and yolks and that diet quality more than 1 month prior to laying can affect eggshell coloration in a waterfowl species. As mallards are considered to be capital breeders in terms of lipid stores, our findings provide a new developmental perspective on the carryover of lipid-soluble and antioxidant nutrient reserves for breeding.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 83%

“…) and manipulated dietary antioxidant levels (Morales, Velando & Torres ; Dearborn et al . ) of females during egg production and measured aspects of eggshell coloration (Morales, Velando & Torres ), egg size (Walters & Getty ), and yolk nutritional profile (Navarro et al . ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Eggshell coloration reflects both yolk characteristics and dietary carotenoid history of female mallards

Butler

McGraw

2013

Functional Ecology

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“…Female blue tits Cyanistes caeruleus in poorer body condition laid spottier eggs and were paired with males in poorer condition; however, the authors did not test whether males altered their provisioning behavior in response to egg patterning [24]. More recently, Walters and Getty [25] found in house wrens Troglodytes aedon that brighter, less speckled eggs were heavier and produced chicks that were better fed by mothers but not fathers, although this experiment did not control for possible confounding effects of nestling quality (see below).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Egg Speckling Patterns Do Not Advertise Offspring Quality or Influence Male Provisioning in Great Tits

et al. 2012

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Many passerine birds lay white eggs with reddish brown speckles produced by protoporphyrin pigment. However, the function of these spots is contested. Recently, the sexually selected eggshell coloration (SSEC) hypothesis proposed that eggshell color is a sexually selected signal through which a female advertises her quality (and hence the potential quality of her future young) to her male partner, thereby encouraging him to contribute more to breeding attempts. We performed a test of the SSEC hypothesis in a common passerine, the great tit Parus major. We used a double cross-fostering design to determine whether males change their provisioning behavior based on eggshell patterns they observe at the nest. We also tested the assumption that egg patterning reflects female and/or offspring quality. Because birds differ from humans in their color and pattern perception, we used digital photography and models of bird vision to quantify egg patterns objectively. Neither male provisioning nor chick growth was related to the pattern of eggs males observed during incubation. Although heavy females laid paler, less speckled eggs, these eggs did not produce chicks that grew faster. Therefore, we conclude that the SSEC hypothesis is an unlikely explanation for the evolution of egg speckling in great tits.

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“…In the house sparrow (Passer domesticus), pigment deposition would decrease with age and through the laying sequence (López de Hierro and De Neve, 2010). Furthermore, a cross-fostering experiment in house wrens (Troglodytes aedon) showed that less-pigmented eggshells indicated heavier eggs and higher female body condition (residuals from a regression of body mass on tarsus length) (Walters and Getty, 2010).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…It is common for researchers to speculate on female investment in terms of eggshell pigments (e.g. Poole, 1965;Walters and Getty, 2010;García-Navas et al, 2011) without measuring pigment concentrations. Therefore, the aim of our study was to examine the relationship between female body condition (through residuals from a regression of body mass on tarsus length), eggshell physical reflectance (brightness, UV chroma and chroma) or perceived discrimination by an avian visual system (chromatic and achromatic contrasts), and maternal investment in egg quality.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Condition-dependent strategies of eggshell pigmentation: an experimental study of Japanese quail (Coturnix coturnix japonica)

Duval

Cassey

Mikšı́k

et al. 2012

Journal of Experimental Biology

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SUMMARYA relationship has been suggested between eggshell colour and female body condition based on the opposing antioxidant properties of the two main eggshell pigments: the antioxidant biliverdin (blue-green) and the pro-oxidant protoporphyrin (brown). We hypothesized that experimentally food-restricted females with low antioxidant capacity would deposit more protoporphyrin and less biliverdin in their eggshells, resulting in eggshells of reduced brightness but increased colour intensity. Two eggs were collected at the beginning and two at the end of a 2week period from each of 24 female Japanese quails that were either food restricted or receiving ad libitum food (i.e. controls) during that time. Reflectance spectra were recorded and analysed using spectral shape descriptors, chromatic and achromatic contrasts were computed accounting for avian visual sensitivities, and eggshell pigments were quantified. We examined both spot and background pigmentation and found no significant effect of food restriction on eggshell reflectance. However, food-restricted females in lower body condition increased the deposition of protoporphyrin and decreased the amount of biliverdin invested in their eggshells. We hypothesize that in species laying brownspotted eggshells, females modulate eggshell pigment investment in response to their body condition. According to this hypothesis, we predict that females maintain eggshell colour to limit visible changes that could be detected by predators and thereby conceal their eggs, although this work has yet to be conducted. We suggest that further experimental work on egg camouflage under different environmental conditions will elaborate on the process of pigment deposition and the physiological costs to females of laying heavily pigmented eggshells.

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Are brighter eggs better? Egg color and parental investment by House Wrens

Cited by 18 publications

References 51 publications

Eggshell coloration reflects both yolk characteristics and dietary carotenoid history of female mallards

Eggshell coloration reflects both yolk characteristics and dietary carotenoid history of female mallards

Egg Speckling Patterns Do Not Advertise Offspring Quality or Influence Male Provisioning in Great Tits

Condition-dependent strategies of eggshell pigmentation: an experimental study of Japanese quail (Coturnix coturnix japonica)

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