Experimental evidence that egg color indicates female condition at laying in a songbird

Moreno, Juan; Lobato, Elisa; Morales, Judith; Merino, Santiago; Tomás, Gustavo; Puente, Josué Martínez‐de la; Sanz, Juan José; Mateo, Rafael; Soler, Juan José

doi:10.1093/beheco/ark014

Cited by 122 publications

(161 citation statements)

References 25 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

146

Contrasting

Unclassified

Order By: Relevance

“…Previous studies on the function of eggshell colouration have experimentally manipulated female body condition through an increase in food availability or antioxidant content. For instance, Moreno and colleagues found that female European pied flycatchers (Ficedula hypoleuca) supplemented with mealworms (Tenebrio molitor) laid bigger and bluer eggs (Moreno et al, 2006). They suggested that this provided experimental evidence that blue-green eggshell colour and biliverdin content were an expression of female nutritional condition in birds.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

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

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

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.

show abstract

Section: Discussionmentioning

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

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…In the Japanese quail, food-restricted birds laid eggs with lower biliverdin and higher protoporphyrin pigment concentrations (Duval et al 2013a). In the pied flycatcher Ficedula hypoleuca, food-supplemented females laid eggs with more intense blue-green coloration (Moreno et al 2006), while in great tits, food supplementation had no significant effect on the intensity of eggshell brown pigmentation (Giordano et al 2015). Accordingly, better availability of nutrients may improve the synthesis and deposition of biliverdin pigment into the eggshell, while lower food availability may constrain it.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Effects of food limitation on the intensity of blue‐green and brown eggshell coloration: an experimental study with the canary

Hargitai

Boross

Nyíri

et al. 2017

Journal of Avian Biology

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Variation in blue-green and brown coloration of avian eggshells could be affected by several factors, including environmental nutritional constraints. Better availability of nutrients could influence the synthesis and deposition of pigments into the eggshell, so we may expect a link between the food availability during egg formation, the body condition of the female and intensity of eggshell coloration. This hypothesis has received mixed support so far: in some bird species a positive correlation between female body condition and eggshell blue-green coloration could be demonstrated, but other studies failed to find a significant link. In this study, we experimentally limited the food availability for domestic canaries Serinus canaria prior to and during egg laying, and examined its effects on the biliverdin-and protoporphyrin-based eggshell coloration. Treatment had no significant effect on eggshell blue-green chroma and biliverdin concentration. However, we found a significant positive relationship between female body condition and eggshell background blue-green chroma in the control group, but not in the food restricted group. Females possibly experiencing a decline in antioxidant capacity due to food limitation may not be able to produce a blue-green eggshell colour intensity reliably indicating their body condition. Furthermore, foodrestricted canary females laid eggs with significantly higher eggshell brown chroma, spot intensity, and protoporphyrin concentration. Therefore, our results suggest that limitation in actual nutrient availability increases deposition of protoporphyrin into the eggshell, and it may also modify the association between female body condition and intensity of blue-green eggshell coloration.

show abstract

“…In some species, the eggshell colour is associated with the body composition and the immune status (immune competence) of both the female and the progeny (Moreno et al, 2004;Siefferman et al, 2006;Krist and Grim, 2007). It has been reported that the intensity of the blue-green colour of the eggs of the pied flycatcher (Ficedula hypoleuca), apart from being positively correlated with the biliverdin content of the eggshell, is also an indicator of the nutritional status of the laying females (Moreno et al, 2006). Duval et al (2013) reported that the eggshell of the eggs laid by female quails fed a diet with a restricted antioxidant capacity contained more protoporphyrin and less biliverdin.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The impact of eggshell colour and spot area in Japanese quails: II. Slaughter and carcass characteristic

et al. 2016

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

-This study was carried out to investigate the effects of eggshell colour and spot properties (colour and size of the spot area) on growth performance and carcass traits of Japanese quail (Coturnix coturnix japonica) eggs. Study material were allocated to five groups according to their eggshell and spot colours: black spots on greyish white coloured eggshell (I), blue spots on greyish white coloured eggshell (II), diffuse brown spots on greyish brown coloured eggshell (III), brown spots on light green colored eggshell (IV), and small brown spots on greyish brown coloured eggshell (V). The size of the spotted area was determined in each egg group using digital image analysis. The groups did not differ for body weight and length of the shank at the end of the growth period. However, the groups differed significantly for carcass yield after slaughter (not eviscerated) and carcass yield. These parameters were highest in Group I (82.08 and 76.09%) and lowest in Group III (80.20 and 73.86%). Digital image analysis demonstrated that heart length, cardiac fat area, gizzard width, and intestine length varied between the groups. Cardiac fat area was largest in Group III (0.86 cm 2 ) and smallest in Group V (0.65 cm 2 ). Gizzard width was greatest in Group I (2.63 cm) and smallest in Group V (2.47 cm). Intestine length was greatest in Group V (78.45 cm) and smallest in Group IV (72.39 cm). Body weight, shank length, and slaughter and carcass weight do not vary in relation to eggshell colour or the size of the spotted area. The lengths of intestine and heart, gizzard width, and cardiac fat area do vary in relation to eggshell colour or the size of the spotted area.

show abstract

Experimental evidence that egg color indicates female condition at laying in a songbird

Cited by 122 publications

References 25 publications

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

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

Effects of food limitation on the intensity of blue‐green and brown eggshell coloration: an experimental study with the canary

The impact of eggshell colour and spot area in Japanese quails: II. Slaughter and carcass characteristic

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About