Male satin bowerbirds use sunlight to illuminate decorations to enhance mating success
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1
University of Maryland, Biology, United States
Conspicuousness of visual signals between males and females are often important for a successful courtship. In many lekking bird species males choose display sites that are sunlit because it allows males to maximize illumination and enhance contrast of their visual signal to females. In satin bowerbirds (Ptilonorhynchus violaceus), males use colored decorations, including blue feathers, placed on their bower platform as part of their multi-faceted courtship display. The number of blue feathers on a bower platform is known to correlate with male mating success, but little is known about the importance of how these decorations are illuminated. We quantified for 25 males the amount of sunlight on the bower and the percentage of blue decorations in full sunlight by analyzing images from time-lapse photographs. We found that the amount of sunlight on the bower platform and the percentage of decorations in sunlight correlate with male mating success during periods of peak female visitation. These results suggest that males better at utilizing the available sunlight on their bower platform for their display receive more matings. This is the first study in any species to demonstrate that greater illumination in off-body displays may be important to mating success.
Keywords:
Bowerbird,
Courtship,
visual signals
Conference:
Tenth International Congress of Neuroethology, College Park. Maryland USA, United States, 5 Aug - 10 Aug, 2012.
Presentation Type:
Poster Presentation (see alternatives below as well)
Topic:
Communication
Citation:
Larned
AF,
Borgia
G and
Savard
J
(2012). Male satin bowerbirds use sunlight to illuminate decorations to enhance mating success.
Conference Abstract:
Tenth International Congress of Neuroethology.
doi: 10.3389/conf.fnbeh.2012.27.00372
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Received:
01 May 2012;
Published Online:
07 Jul 2012.
*
Correspondence:
Miss. Archer F Larned, University of Maryland, Biology, College Park, United States, alarned@umd.edu