The effect of coccidial infection on iridescent plumage coloration in wild turkeys

Hill, Geoffrey E.; Doucet, Stéphanie M.; Buchholz, Richard

doi:10.1016/j.anbehav.2004.03.013

Cited by 102 publications

(79 citation statements)

References 40 publications

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“…The implications of this are obscure because little is known about condition-dependent effects of the growth of iridescent plumage (Hill et al 2005). The apparent insignificance of iridescent coloration reported here is consistent with observations of great frigatebirds from Hawaii, where feather reflectance was scored as dull, moderate, or bright under standardized light conditions at night, and total length of the iridescent back feathers was measured (Dearborn and Ryan 2002).…”

Section: Feather Iridescence and Mating Successsupporting

confidence: 79%

“…For magnificent frigatebirds, such a comparison would not be appropriate because males arrive at the colony throughout the approximately 3-month mating period (V. Madsen, personal observation), and no consistent pattern of enhanced breeding success for early breeders seems to exist (Madsen 2005). The apparent insignificance of iridescent coloration differs from results of other work on structural coloration and mate choice (Andersson and Amundsen 1997;Andersson et al 1998;Johnsen et al 1998;Hunt et al 1999;Hill et al 2005; but see Ballentine and Hill 2003). One possibility is that the magnificent frigatebird is the only frigatebird species know to have purple back-feather hue (Harrison 1985), suggesting that it is used for identification of the species.…”

Section: Feather Iridescence and Mating Successmentioning

confidence: 87%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Morphology and Ornamentation in Male Magnificent Frigatebirds: Variation with Age Class and Mating Status

Madsen¹,

Dabelsteen²,

Osorio³

et al. 2007

The American Naturalist

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Section: Feather Iridescence and Mating Successsupporting

confidence: 79%

Section: Feather Iridescence and Mating Successmentioning

confidence: 87%

Morphology and Ornamentation in Male Magnificent Frigatebirds: Variation with Age Class and Mating Status

Madsen¹,

Dabelsteen²,

Osorio³

et al. 2007

The American Naturalist

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“…Female preference for UV-reflective males over UV-blocked or UV-reduced males has been demonstrated in several species [11], [12], and [13]. As a plumage or integument characteristic, UV reflectance may signal male fitness in terms of resource acquisition or overall health [13] and [14].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Functional visual sensitivity to ultraviolet wavelengths in the Pileated Woodpecker (Dryocopus pileatus), and its influence on foraging substrate selection

O'Daniels

Kesler

Mihail

et al. 2017

Physiology & Behavior

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Most diurnal birds are presumed visually sensitive to near ultraviolet (UV) wavelengths, however, controlled behavioral studies investigating UV sensitivity remain few. Although woodpeckers are important as primary cavity excavators and nuisance animals, published work on their visual systems is limited. We developed a novel foraging-based behavioral assay designed to test UV sensitivity in the Pileated Woodpecker (Dryocopus pileatus). We acclimated 21 wild-caught woodpeckers to foraging for frozen mealworms within 1.2 m sections of peeled cedar (Thuja spp.) poles. We then tested the functional significance of UV cues by placing frozen mealworms behind UV-reflective covers, UV-absorptive covers, or decayed red pine substrates within the same 1.2 m poles in independent experiments. Behavioral responses were greater toward both UV-reflective and UV-absorptive substrates in three experiments. Study subjects therefore reliably differentiated and attended to two distinct UV conditions of a foraging substrate. Cue-naïve subjects showed a preference for UV-absorptive substrates, suggesting that woodpeckers may be pre-disposed to foraging from such substrates. Behavioral responses were greater toward decayed pine substrates (UV-reflective) than sound pine substrates suggesting that decayed pine can be a useful foraging cue. The finding that cue-naïve subjects selected UV-absorbing foraging substrates has implications for ecological interactions of woodpeckers with fungi. Woodpeckers transport fungal spores, and communication methods analogous to those of plant-pollinator mutualisms (i.e. UV-absorbing patterns) may have evolved to support woodpecker-fungus mutualisms.Published by Elsevier Inc.

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“…It is thus surprising that, despite numerous studies examining both the condition-dependence and sexual selection of structurally coloured traits in birds [7,[14][15][16][17][18], their developmental mechanisms are still largely unknown. Only recently has a hypothesis for the organization of non-iridescent spongy layers been proposed [19,20].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Nanostructural self-assembly of iridescent feather barbules through depletion attraction of melanosomes during keratinization

Maia

Macêdo

Shawkey

2011

J. R. Soc. Interface.

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Avian plumage colours are model traits in understanding the evolution of sexually selected ornamental traits. Paradoxically, iridescent structural colours, probably the most dazzling of these traits, remain the most poorly understood. Though some data suggest that expression of bright iridescent plumage colours produced by highly ordered arrays of melanosomes and keratin is condition-dependent, almost nothing is known of their ontogeny and thus of any developmental mechanisms that may be susceptible to perturbation. Here, we use light and electron microscopy to compare the ontogeny of iridescent male and non-iridescent female feathers in blue-black grassquits. Feather barbules of males contain a single layer of melanosomes bounded by a thin layer of keratin-producing blue iridescent colour, while those of females contain disorganized melanosomes and no outer layer. We found that nanostructural organization of male barbules occurs late in development, following death of the barbule cell, and is thus unlikely to be under direct cellular control, contrary to previous suggestions. Rather, organization appears to be caused by entropically driven self-assembly through depletion attraction forces that pin melanosomes to the edge of barbule cells and to one another. These forces are probably stronger in developing barbules of males than of females because their melanosomes are (i) larger, (ii) more densely packed, and (iii) more homogeneously distributed owing to the more consistent shape of barbules during keratinization. These data provide the first proposed developmental pathway for iridescent plumage colours, and suggest that any condition dependence of iridescent barbules is likely driven by factors other than direct metabolic cost.

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The effect of coccidial infection on iridescent plumage coloration in wild turkeys

Cited by 102 publications

References 40 publications

Morphology and Ornamentation in Male Magnificent Frigatebirds: Variation with Age Class and Mating Status

Morphology and Ornamentation in Male Magnificent Frigatebirds: Variation with Age Class and Mating Status

Functional visual sensitivity to ultraviolet wavelengths in the Pileated Woodpecker (Dryocopus pileatus), and its influence on foraging substrate selection

Nanostructural self-assembly of iridescent feather barbules through depletion attraction of melanosomes during keratinization

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