Seeing red: uncovering coverable badges in red-winged blackbirds
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Cited by (24)
Variable Signals in a Complex World: Shifting Views of Within-Individual Variability in Sexual Display Traits
2016, Advances in the Study of BehaviorCitation Excerpt :This type of adjustment is commonly seen when subordinate males simply avoid displaying near dominants by preferentially displaying when top males are absent or displaying at the periphery of courtship aggregations (Lukianchuk & Doucet, 2014; Wiley, 1973). Evidence of social costs also can be seen when males adjust their appearance to hide traits important to females when in the presence of competitors (Metz & Weatherhead, 1992; Wiley, 1973). The most extreme cases of this behavior are changes in type of display produced, eg, a shift from displaying male to nondisplaying “sneaker” males or female mimicry (eg, Hanlon, Naud, Shaw, & Havenhand, 2005; Rubenstein, 1980).
Intersexual and intrasexual consequences of epaulet colour in male red-winged blackbirds: an experimental approach
2009, Animal BehaviourCitation Excerpt :Members of each pair were assigned to treatment (altered or control epaulets) randomly, and females were always presented with a stimulus set from the opposite collection site to eliminate effects of familiarity. As we were attempting to determine the effects of epaulet colour rather than the extent to which males display their epaulets, we trimmed the scapular feathers of all experimental males to ensure that their epaulets were exposed to the females throughout the experiment (see Metz & Weatherhead 1992). The experimental aviary was designed to allow females to see and hear both stimulus males while preventing males from seeing each other (Fig. 1).
Intrasexual selection on multiple plumage ornaments in the lark bunting
2008, Animal BehaviourCitation Excerpt :A glance at any avian field guide reveals that distinct colour patches on the rump are taxonomically widespread, which may suggest that rump signals might generally serve as flexible, coverable badges. In lark buntings, the ability to conceal rump feathers appears to provide males with the flexibility to adjust their perceived dominance rank or degree of threat when dominance depends on the social context, as has been suggested for species with coverable badges (Hansen & Rohwer 1986; Metz & Weatherhead 1992; Jablonski & Matyjasiak 1997; Hurd & Enquist 1998). However, more frequent testing or misjudgements by other males may be a cost of having a flexible or less informative badge of status (Dawkins & Guilford 1991) and may more often require responses by territory holders, similar to the rapid response of males with more black rump patches observed in our study.