The effect of parental quality and malaria infection on nestling performance in the Collared Flycatcher (Ficedula albicollis) |
| |
Authors: | Eszter Sz?llsi Balázs Rosivall Dennis Hasselquist and János T?r?k |
| |
Institution: | (1) Behavioural Ecology Group, Department of Systematic Zoology and Ecology, E?tv?s Loránd University, Pázmány Péter sétány 1/c, 1117 Budapest, Hungary;(2) Department of Animal Ecology, Lund University, Ecology Building, S?lvegatan 37, 22362 Lund, Sweden |
| |
Abstract: | Plumage ornamentation often signals the quality of males and, therefore, female birds may choose elaborately ornamented mates
to increase their fitness. Such mate choice may confer both direct and indirect benefits to the offspring. Males with elaborate
ornaments may provide good genes, which can result in better nestling growth, survival or resistance against parasitic infections.
However, these males may also provision their offspring with more food or food of better quality, resulting in nestlings growing
at a higher rate or fledging in better condition. In this study, we examined if there was an association between male ornamentation
and malaria infection in Collared Flycatchers (Ficedula albicollis). We also investigated offspring performance in relation to malaria infection in the parents and the quality of the genetic
and rearing fathers (assessed by the size of two secondary sexual characters) under simulated good and bad conditions (using
brood size manipulation). We found that secondary sexual characters did not signal the ability of males to avoid parasitic
infections, and malaria infection in the genetic and the rearing parents had no effect on nestling growth and fledging size.
Our results do show, however, that it may be beneficial for the females to mate with males with a large forehead patch because
wing feathers of nestlings reared by large-patched males grew at a higher rate. Fast feather growth can result in earlier
fledging which, in turn, could improve nestling survival in highly variable environments or under strong nest predation. |
| |
Keywords: | Avian malaria Haemoproteus Nestling growth Plasmodium Secondary sexual characters |
本文献已被 SpringerLink 等数据库收录! |
|