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Avian Research 2022, 13(2): 100033 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.avrs.2022.100033
Research Article | Open Access | Issue | Published: 27 April 2022

Sexual dichromatism and assortative mating by multiple plumage color traits in wild Chestnut Thrush

Show Author's Information Yingqiang Loua,  Lijun Chena,  Qingshan Zhaob,  Anders Pape Møllerc,  Yun Fanga,  Yuehua Suna( )
Key Laboratory of Animal Ecology and Conservation Biology, Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100101, China
State Key Laboratory of Urban and Regional Ecology, Research Center for Eco-Environmental Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100085, China
Ecologie Systématique Evolution, Université Paris–Sud, CNRS, AgroParisTech, Université Paris– Saclay, F-91405, Orsay Cedex, France
Keywords:
Avian vision, Sexual selection, Assortative mating, Plumage coloration
Cite this article:
Lou Y, Chen L, Zhao Q, et al. Sexual dichromatism and assortative mating by multiple plumage color traits in wild Chestnut Thrush. Avian Research, 2022, 13(2): 100033. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.avrs.2022.100033
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Abstract Full text About this article

Sex differences in plumage color are common in bird species. Some bird species are regarded as sexually monochromatic in human visual systems, and in recent years, some species are found to be of cryptic (to human) sexual dichromatism by spectrophotometric techniques. However, the functions of plumage color are still less understood in these species. Here, we focused on plumage color traits in the Chestnut Thrush (Turdus rubrocanus), which is considered as a sexually monochromatic bird by human observers. We used spectrometer analyses and avian visual modeling to investigate the color traits of males and females, and whether these color traits are involved in assortative mating. We found that Chestnut Thrush showed sexual dichromatism in bill, throat and wing, and pairs mated assortatively with colorations of throat, chest, crown and wing. We also found that color of tarsus was different between two consecutive years. These results revealed that Chestnut Thrush is sexually dichromatic in the avian visual system, and plumage color traits play important roles in mate choice.


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About this article

Sexual dichromatism and assortative mating by multiple plumage color traits in wild Chestnut Thrush

Show Author's information Yingqiang Loua, Lijun Chena, Qingshan Zhaob, Anders Pape Møllerc, Yun Fanga, Yuehua Suna( )
Key Laboratory of Animal Ecology and Conservation Biology, Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100101, China
State Key Laboratory of Urban and Regional Ecology, Research Center for Eco-Environmental Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100085, China
Ecologie Systématique Evolution, Université Paris–Sud, CNRS, AgroParisTech, Université Paris– Saclay, F-91405, Orsay Cedex, France

Abstract

Sex differences in plumage color are common in bird species. Some bird species are regarded as sexually monochromatic in human visual systems, and in recent years, some species are found to be of cryptic (to human) sexual dichromatism by spectrophotometric techniques. However, the functions of plumage color are still less understood in these species. Here, we focused on plumage color traits in the Chestnut Thrush (Turdus rubrocanus), which is considered as a sexually monochromatic bird by human observers. We used spectrometer analyses and avian visual modeling to investigate the color traits of males and females, and whether these color traits are involved in assortative mating. We found that Chestnut Thrush showed sexual dichromatism in bill, throat and wing, and pairs mated assortatively with colorations of throat, chest, crown and wing. We also found that color of tarsus was different between two consecutive years. These results revealed that Chestnut Thrush is sexually dichromatic in the avian visual system, and plumage color traits play important roles in mate choice.

Keywords: Avian vision, Sexual selection, Assortative mating, Plumage coloration

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Publication history

Received: 11 September 2021
Accepted: 20 April 2022
Published: 27 April 2022
Issue date: June 2022

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© 2022 The Authors.

Acknowledgements

Acknowledgements

We thank Chunlei Jing, Yumeng Tian and Huan Liu for their assistance in the field. We thank the anonymous reviewers for comments on the manuscript. This research was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 32070452to YS).

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This is an open access article under the CC BY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).

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