Testing an assumption of the sexual-signaling hypothesis: Does blue-green egg color reflect maternal antioxidant capacity?

Condor

Volumn 110, Issue 4, 2008, Pages 767-771

  Hanley, Daniel ^a,b   Heiber, Gabriel ^a   Dearborn, Donald C ^a  

^a BUCKNELL UNIVERSITY   (United States)

^b UNIVERSITY OF WINDSOR   (Canada)

Author keywords

Antioxidant capacity; Biliverdin; Egg coloration; Parental effort; Pigment; Sexual signaling

Indexed keywords

DUMETELLA CAROLINENSIS;

EID: 67349242087     PISSN: 00105422     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1525/cond.2008.8634     Document Type: Article

References (40)

1. AVILES, J. M., J. J. SOLER, AND T. PEREZ-CONTRERAS. 2006. Dark nests and egg colour in birds: A possible functional role of ultra-violet reflectance in egg detectability. Proceedings of the Royal Society of London Series B 273:2821-2829.
2. AVILES, J. M., J. J. SOLER, T. PEREZ-CONTRERAS, M. SOLER, AND A. P. MØLLER. 2006. Ultraviolet reflectance of Great Spotted Cuckoo eggs and egg discrimination by magpies. Behavioral Ecology 17:310-314.
3. AVILES, J. M., B. G. STOKKE, A. MOKSNES, E. ROSKAFT, AND A. P. MØLLER. 2006. Nest predation and the evolution of egg appearance in passerine birds in Europe and North America. Evolutionary Ecology Research 8:493-513.
4. BAICICH, P. J., AND C. J. O. HARRISON. 1997. A guide to the nests, eggs, and nestlings of North American birds. Academic Press, San Diego, CA.
5. BAKKEN, G. S., V. C. VANDERBILT, W. A. BUTTERMER, AND W. R. DAWSON. 1978. Avian eggs: Thermoregulatory value of very high near-infrared reflectance. Science 200:321-323.
6. BLANCO, G., AND M. BERTELLOTTI. 2002. Differential predation by mammals and birds: Implications for egg-colour polymorphism in a nomadic breeding seabird. Biological Journal of the Linnean Society 75:137-146.
7. BRIVIBA, K., AND H. SIES. 1994. Nonenzymatic antioxidant defense systems, p. 107-128. In B. Frei [ED.], Natural antioxidants in human health and disease. Academic Press, San Diego, CA.
8. CASSEY, P., J. G. EWEN, T. M. BLACKBURN, M. E. HAUBER, M. VOROBYEV, AND N. J. MARSHALL. 2008. Eggshell colour does not predict measures of maternal investment in eggs of Turdus thrushes. Naturwissenschaften 95:713-721.
9. CIMPRICH, D. A., AND F. R. MOORE. 1995. Gray Catbird (Dumetella carolinensis), p. 1-19. In A. Poole and F. Gill [EDS.], The birds of North America, No. 167. The Academy of Natural Sciences, Philadelphia, PA, and The American Ornithologists' Union, Washington, DC.
10. COTT, H. B. 1948. Edibility of the eggs of birds. Nature 161:8-11.
11. α from Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar) bile. Biochemistry (Moscow) 67:927-932.
12. DOLBY, A. S., C. E. CLARKSON, E. T. HAAS, J. K. MILLER, L. E. HAVENS, AND B. K. COX. 2005. Do song-phrase production rate and song versatility honestly communicate male parental quality in the Gray Catbird? Journal of Field Ornithology 76:287-292.
13. FALCHUK, K. H., J. M. CONTIN, T. S. DZIEDZIC, Z. FENG, T. C. FRENCH, G. J. HEFFRON, AND M. MONTORZI. 2002. A role for biliverdin IXα in dorsal axis development of Xenopus laevis embryos. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA 99:251-256.
14. HANLEY, D., W. MINEHART III, AND D. C. DEARBORN. 2007. Documentation of a polygynous Gray Catbird. Wilson Journal of Ornithology 119:409-502.
15. JACKSON, W. M. 1992. Relative importance of parasitism by Chrysococcyx cuckoos versus conspecific nest parasitism in the Northern Masked Weaver Ploceus taeniopterus. Ornis Seandiuavica 23:203-206.
16. JOHNSON, E. J., AND L. B. BEST. 1980. Breeding biology of the Gray Catbird in Iowa. Iowa State Journal of Research 55:171-183.
17. JOHNSON, E. J., AND L. B. BEST. 1982. Factors affecting feeding and brooding of Gray Catbird nestlings. Auk 99:148-156.
18. KAUR, H., M. N. HUGHES, C. J. GREEN, P. NAUGHTON, R. FORESTI, AND R. MOTTERLINI. 2003. Interaction of bilirubin and biliverdin with reactive nitrogen species. FEBS letters 543:113-119.
19. KENNEDY, G. Y., AND H. G. VEVERS. 1976. A survey of avian egg-shell pigments. Comparative Biochemistry and Physiology Part B 55:117-123.
20. KILNER, R. M. 2006. The evolution of egg colour and patterning in birds. Biological Reviews 81:383-406.
21. KRIST, M., AND T. GRIM. 2007. Are blue eggs a sexually selected signal of female Collared Flycatchers? A cross-fostering experiment. Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology 61:863-876.
22. LACK, D. 1958. The significance of the colour of Turdine eggs. Ibis 100:145-166.
23. LOPEZ-RULL, I., P. CELLS, AND D. GIL. 2007. Egg colour covaries with female expression of a male ornament in the Spotless Starling ( Sturnus unicolor). Ethology 113:926-933.
24. LOPEZ-RULL, I., I. MIKSIK, AND D. GIL. 2008. Egg pigmentation reflects female and egg quality in the Spotless Starling Sturnus unicolor. Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology 62:1877-1884.
25. MCALDOWIE, A. M. 1886. Observations on the development and the decay of the pigment layer on birds' eggs. Journal of Anatomy and Physiology 20:225-237.
26. MORENO, J., E. LOBATO, J. MORALES, S. MERINO, G. TOMÁS, J. MARTÍNEZ-DE LA PUENTE, J. J. SANZ, R. MATEO, AND J. J. SOLER. 2006. Experimental evidence that egg color indicates female condition at laying in a songbird. Behavioral Ecology 17:651-655.
27. MORENO, J., J. MORALES, E. LOBATO, S. MERINO, G. TOMAS, AND J. MARTINEZ-DE LA PUENTE. 2005. Evidence for the signaling function of egg color in the Pied Flycatcher Ficedula hypoleuca. Behavioral Ecology 16:931-937.
28. MORENO, J., J. MORALES, E. LOBATO, G. TOMÁS, AND J. MARTÍNEZDE LA PUENTE. 2006. More colorful eggs induce a higher relative paternal investment in the Pied Flycatcher Ficedula hypoleuca: A cross-fostering experiment. Journal of Avian Biology 37:555-560.
29. MORENO, J., AND J. L. OSORNO. 2003. Avian egg colour and sexual selection: Does eggshell pigmentation reflect female condition and genetic quality? Ecology Letters 6:803-806.
30. MORENO, J., J. L. OSORNO, J. MORALES, S. MERINO, AND G. TOMAS. 2004. Egg colouration and male parental effort in the Pied Flycatcher Ficedula hypoleuca. Journal of Avian Biology 35:300-304.
31. SIEFFERMAN, L., K. J. NAVARA, AND G. E. HILL. 2006. Egg coloration is correlated with female condition in Eastern Bluebirds (Sialia sialis). Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology 59:651-656.
32. SOLER, J. J., AND A. P. MØLLER. 1996. A comparative analysis of the evolution of variation in appearance of eggs of European passerines in relation to brood parasitism. Behavioral Ecology 7: 89-94.
33. SOLER, J., C. NAVARRO, T. CONTRERAS, J. AVILES, AND J. CUERVO. 2008. Sexually selected egg coloration in Spotless Starlings. American Naturalist 171:183-194.
34. SPSS FOR WINDOWS. 2003. Version 12.0.0. SPSS Inc., Chicago.
35. SWYNNERTON, C. F. M. 1916. On the coloration of the mouths and eggs of birds. II. On the coloration of eggs. Ibis 4:529-606.
36. UNDERWOOD, T. J., AND S. G. SEALY. 2002. Adaptive significance of egg coloration, p. 280-298. In D. C. Deeming [EB.], Avian inc ubation: Behaviour, environment, and evolution. Oxford University Press, New York.
37. VICTORIA, J. K. 1972. Clutch characteristics and egg discriminative ability of African Village Weaverbird Ploceus cucullatus. Ibis 114:367-376.
38. WANG, Y., A. B. SALMON, AND L. G. HARSHMAN. 2001. A cost of reproduction: Oxidative stress susceptibility is associated with increased egg production in Drosophila melanogaster. Experimental Gerontology 36:1349-1359.
39. WIERSMA, P., C. SELMAN, J. R. SPEAKMAN, AND S. VERHULST. 2004. Birds sacrifice oxidative protection for reproduction. Proceedings of the Royal Society of London Series B 271: S360-S363.
40. ZIMMERMAN, J. L. 1963. A nesting study of the catbird in southern Michigan. Jack-Pine Warbler 41:142-160.