Delayed plumage maturation explains differences in breeding performance of Saffron Finches

Marques‐Santos, Fernando; Wischhoff, Uschi; Roper, James J.; Rodrigues, Marcos

doi:10.1080/01584197.2018.1450637

Cited by 11 publications

(14 citation statements)

References 41 publications

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“…The saffron finch has been estimated to live an average of 3.7 years (Palmerio 2012), and can raise up to four broods a year from the moment of sexual maturity. It may be that, as assumed here, there is a positive relationship between parental investment and absolute parental fitness, in terms of lifetime offspring, and in a study in the pelzelni subspecies spanning three breeding seasons, breeding investment and offspring productivity were found to be partially explained by female age (Marques‐Santos et al 2018), which may indirectly affect nest behavioural responses. Furthermore, the most crucial moment for offspring survival is known to be immediately after fledging (Ricklefs 1974, Ringsby et al 1998, Both et al 1999, Naef‐Daenzer et al 2001) so it is possible that a relationship between parental care and reproductive success would be evident in the saffron finch, when considering juvenile survival until adulthood.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 55%

“…Average life expectancy has been estimated at 3.7 years (Palmerio 2012) and observations have so far shown few nests are lost due to predation (Espinosa et al 2017). Despite being a species with a wide geographical distribution, inhabiting urban environments and with ecological studies, especially in the Southern temperate zone (Palmerio and Massoni 2009, Orozco et al 2016, Marques‐Santos et al 2018), there is still much to learn about its reproductive biology.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Parental investment does not directly affect reproductive success in the saffron finch

Burnham

Cruz-Bernate

2020

Journal of Avian Biology

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In tropical species, the study of parental care and the description of the intraspecific variation of parental care remain relatively understudied, especially when compared to the vast works dedicated to species from the Northern Hemisphere. In Colombia, the saffron finch Sicalis flaveola, is a species with a wide geographical distribution, and despite its abundance in open habitats and urban environments, little is known about its reproductive ecology. As a small-bodied, short-lived passerine, we postulated that the saffron finch should behave according to the 'reproductive value hypothesis', investing in the current brood at the expense of future survival. Consequently, we predicted: 1) that parental investment would be associated with brood size and 2) parental investment would be positively associated with nestling growth rate and reproductive success (defined as the number of nestlings which reached fledging age). In 2018, two reproductive peaks of S. flaveola flaveola were documented in the Meléndez campus of Universidad del Valle, Cali. Direct observations and video cameras (> 1700 h of recording) were used to monitor the nests from 38 different breeding pairs. We found that feeding visits and the number of regurgitation events were positively related to brood size. In an experiment of simulated nest predation, 85% of breeding pairs responded to the stimulus and parents who exhibited highly responsive behaviours (50%) raised nestlings with a higher growth rate. We also found that egg surface area positively affected the number of incubation bouts per hour. Whilst no relationship was found between overall parental investment and reproductive success, our results appear to show that the intensity of parental investment during reproduction was modulated by brood size. Our findings suggest that there are multiple ecological factors that influence reproductive success in the saffron finch, and reinforce the need for longer term studies of tropical passerines.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 55%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Parental investment does not directly affect reproductive success in the saffron finch

Burnham

Cruz-Bernate

2020

Journal of Avian Biology

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“…This effect of date is in accordance with other studies that show that great tits must breed early to match their breeding season with the availability of food to the offspring; failure to do so might decrease nest success (Perrins and McCleery , Charmantier et al , Reed et al ). Additionally, a seasonal decrease in productivity may be attributed to differences in quality among early and late breeders (Marques‐Santos et al ). It is surprising, nonetheless, that seasonal effects did not hold for nestling mass.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Weather effects on nestling survival of great tits vary according to the developmental stage

Marques‐Santos

Dingemanse

2020

Journal of Avian Biology

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Organisms change breeding investments as a function of the environment, thereby maximizing reproductive success. Climate change studies of avian life-history have long focused on plasticity of laying dates and clutch sizes in response to weather conditions prior to clutch initiation. By contrast, effects of unpredictable weather events occurring after initial reproductive decisions are made have largely been ignored, despite becoming increasingly important with ongoing climate change. We studied the detrimental effects of fluctuations in temperature and precipitation during various nesting phases of great tits Parus major, identifying the developmental age windows where weather fluctuations affected hatching, nestling mass and fledging success. We used a longitudinal (8-year) dataset of great tits breeding in nest boxes in southern Germany and applied a recently introduced explorative approach that does not require a priori assumptions on the time windows (range of ages) over which weather may affect reproductive parameters. Lower temperatures and higher precipitation during the nestling phase negatively affected nestling mass and survival: nestlings between the ages 6 and 9 days were most susceptible to this form of variation in weather. Effects of weather did not differ between years, i.e. there was no evidence for 'good' versus 'bad' years. Future research should focus on the mechanisms underpinning effects of weather on nestling growth and survival in other populations and consider if age-dependent weather consequences occur in a wide variety of taxa, as specific developmental stages may serve as weak spots in a scenario of increasing recurrence of weather extremes.

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“…f , brasiliensis . In the latter, young individuals of both sexes show DPM, turn into brighter yellow plumage before the second (males) or following reproductive seasons (some females), and mate assortatively by color according to a tristimulus color analysis based on photography [31]. In the southern subspecies, however, only males show DPM and, along with females, are highly dichromatic with adult yellow plumaged males.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…f . brasiliensis in which mature individuals of both sexes are described as yellow plumaged and “dull” individuals as having only a yellowish ventral patch [31]. Females, and both type of males in S .…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Lack of conspecific visual discrimination between second-year males and females in the Saffron Finch

Saldívar

Massoni

2018

PLoS ONE

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Sexually dichromatic birds often show delayed plumage maturation, but second-year (SY) males may or may not be distinguishable from females. In competitive contexts, SY males receive a reduced amount of adult males’ aggression, either by mimicking females or through signaling their sex and inexperience as subordinate males. To the human eye, reproductive dull SY male Saffron Finches are indistinguishable from females, whereas after second-year (ASY) males are golden yellow. Our aim is to establish whether SY males are sexually dichromatic with females to the eye of conspecifics. We describe plumage variation in females, SY and ASY males and, in particular, analyze assortative mating by color by comparing a previously disregarded yellow feather patch shared by the three groups. We measured plumage reflectance of the forehead, breast, belly, and axillaries, and used a two-step avian visual model analysis to estimate the ability of Saffron Finches to distinguish between SY males and females. We find that those groups are indistinguishable to conspecifics by color. Furthermore, we find non-significant evidence of assortative mating directly related to the coloration of comparable feather patches between females and each type of male, though body condition of SY males is associated to that of their mates. Our results are compatible with both the female-mimicry and the status signaling hypotheses of evolution and maintenance of delayed plumage maturation. However, the singing behavior of males reveals their presence within the breeding site; the combined effect of song and dull coloration suggest that SY males are honestly revealing their sex and status to conspecifics.

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Delayed plumage maturation explains differences in breeding performance of Saffron Finches

Cited by 11 publications

References 41 publications

Parental investment does not directly affect reproductive success in the saffron finch

Parental investment does not directly affect reproductive success in the saffron finch

Weather effects on nestling survival of great tits vary according to the developmental stage

Lack of conspecific visual discrimination between second-year males and females in the Saffron Finch

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