An experimental test of mate choice for red carotenoid coloration in the marine copepod Tigriopus californicus

Colorful ornaments are hypothesized to have evolved in response to sexual selection for honest signals of individual quality that provide information about potential mates. Red carotenoid coloration is common in diverse groups, and in some vertebrate taxa, red coloration is a sexually selected trait whereby mates with the reddest ornaments are preferred . Despite being widespread among invertebrates, whether red carotenoid coloration is assessed during mate choice in these taxa is unclear. The marine copepod Tigriopus californicus displays red coloration from the accumulation of the carotenoid astaxanthin. Previous research on copepods has shown that astaxanthin provides protection from UV radiation and xenobiotic exposure and that carotenoid production is sensitive to external stressors. Because of the condition dependency of the red coloration, we hypothesized that Tigriopus would use it as a criterion during mate choice. To test this hypothesis, we conducted trials in which males chose between females that were wild-type red (carotenoid-rich algae diet) or white (carotenoid-deficient yeast diet). To control for dietary differences and to isolate the effect of carotenoid coloration, we also presented males with restored-red females fed a carotenoid-supplemented yeast diet. We found that wild-type red females were weakly preferred over white females. After controlling for diet, however, we found that restored-red females were avoided. Our observations do not support the hypothesis that male copepods prefer the carotenoid coloration of females during mate choice. We hypothesize that algal-derived compounds other than carotenoids play a role in mate choice. Red coloration in copepods appears to be a condition-dependent trait that is not assessed during mating.     

Ultraviolet and carotenoid‐based coloration in the viviparous lizard Zootoca vivipara (Squamata: Lacertidae) in relation to age,sex, and morphology

Lizards display structural and pigment‐based colorations, and their visual system is sensitive to wavelengths of 300–700 nm. However, few studies in squamate reptiles have quantified interindividual colour variation that includes the structural ultraviolet (UV) component (300–400 nm). In the present study, we investigated variability of a ventral UV/yellow–red ornamentation in the common lizard Zootoca vivipara, including an analysis of spatial distribution, as well as sex and age differences. We also investigated whether the expression of coloration is related to body size and condition. Our analyses revealed two distinct patches: a gular patch with a strong UV reflectance and a belly patch with a dominant yellow–red reflectance. Males displayed a less saturated throat coloration with higher UV chroma and UV hue, and had a redder but duller belly coloration than females. Yearlings had less elaborate ornaments than adults, although they already displayed a yellow–red sexual dichromatism on the belly. UV sexual dichromatism was only apparent in adults as a result of a weaker UV reflectance in females, suggesting potential fitness costs of a bright UV coloration in that sex. Different colour traits were related to body size in both sexes, as well as to body condition in males. We discuss the potential evolutionary scenarios leading to the maintenance of this ornament in common lizards. © 2013 The Linnean Society of London, Biological Journal of the Linnean Society, 2013, 110 , 128–141.     

Plumage color as a composite trait: developmental and functional integration of sexual ornamentation

Most studies of condition-dependent sexual ornaments have treated such ornaments as single traits. However, sexual ornaments are often composites of several components, each produced by partially independent developmental pathways. Depending on environmental and individual condition, components of these ornaments may reflect different behavioral or physiological properties of an individual. One of the best-known, condition-dependent ornaments is carotenoid-based plumage coloration, which has at least four distinct components: pigment elaboration, patch area, pigment symmetry, and patch area symmetry. Here we examined fitness consequences of variation in individual components of carotenoid ornamentation in male house finches (Carpodacus mexicanus). Over 5 yr and several selection episodes, we studied variation in the plumage components in a large sample (n = 498) of males from a Montana population. The ornament components were partially independent of each other and had distinct fitness consequences. Selection for higher fecundity favored an increase in redness of coloration and a decrease in pigment asymmetry and patch area asymmetry but did not act on patch area itself. In contrast, viability selection favored larger and more symmetrical ornamental patches but did not act on pigment elaboration. Developmental and functional interrelationships among individual components of ornamentation strongly differed between house finch populations. Distinct patterns of selection on individual components of condition-dependent ornaments, combined with partially independent development of components, should favor the evolution of composite sexual traits whose components reliably reflect condition across a wide array of environments.     

Evidence for sexual selection on structural plumage coloration in female eastern bluebirds (Sialia sialis)

Although the function of ornamental traits in males has been the focus of intensive research for decades, expression of such traits in females has received much less study. Eastern bluebirds (Sialia sialis) display structurally based ultraviolet/blue and melanin-based chestnut plumage, and in males this plumage coloration is related to both reproductive success and competitive ability. Compared to males, female bluebirds show a subdued expression of blue and chestnut ornamental coloration, and we used a combination of an aviary nutritional-stress experiment and four years of field data to test the hypothesis that coloration functions as a signal of female quality. First, we tested the effect of food intake on expression of structural and melanin coloration in female eastern bluebirds to determine whether structural or melanin coloration are condition-dependent traits. Females that were given ad libitum access to food displayed more ornamented structural coloration than females on a food-restricted diet, but there was no effect of the experiment on melanin ornamentation. Second, we used field data to assess whether female ornamentation correlated with measures of mate quality and parental effort. The structural coloration of females predicted first egg date, maternal provisioning rates, and measures of reproductive success. These data indicate that structural coloration is dependent on nutritional condition and suggest that sexual selection is acting on structurally based plumage coloration in female eastern bluebirds.     

Ultraviolet reflectance and cryptic sexual dichromatism in the ocellated lizard, Lacerta (Timon) lepida (Squamata: Lacertidae)

Ultraviolet (UV) colorations have garnered extensive theoretical and empirical treatment in recent years, although the majority of studies have concerned themselves with avian taxa. However, many lizards have acute visual systems with retinal photoreceptors that are sensitive to UV wavelengths, and also display UV-reflecting colour patches. In the present study, we used UV photography and full-spectrum reflectance spectrophotometry to describe intra- and intersexual colour variation in adult ocellated lizards Lacerta ( Timon ) lepida and to obtain evidence of UV-based ornamentation. We also investigated whether any colour traits correlate with morphological traits potentially related to individual quality. The results obtained show that the prominent eyespots and blue outer ventral scales (OVS) that ocellated lizards have on their flanks reflect strongly in the UV range and are best described as UV/blue in coloration. The eyespots of males are larger and cover a larger surface area than those of females. However, these differences can be entirely accounted for by sex differences in body size, with males being generally larger than females. We also found differences in the shape of reflectance curves from males and females, with the eyespots and blue OVS of males being more UV-shifted than those of females. Other body regions have extremely low UV reflectance and are not sexually dichromatic. Eyespot size and the total surface area covered by eyespots increases with body size in males but not in females, suggesting that they may be signalling an intrinsic individual characteristic such as body size or male fighting ability. We also discuss the alternative and non-exclusive hypothesis that eyespots may function in lizards of both sexes as protective markings against predators.  © 2009 The Linnean Society of London, Biological Journal of the Linnean Society , 2009, 97 , 766–780.     

On the function of female ornaments: male bluethroats prefer colourful females

Female ornaments in animals with conventional sex roles have traditionally been considered non-functional, being merely a genetically correlated response to selection for male ornamentation. Alternatively, female ornaments may be influenced by selection acting directly on the females, either through female–female competition or male choice. We tested the latter hypothesis in mate choice experiments with bluethroats (Luscinia s. svecica), a passerine bird in which females vary considerably in coloration of an ornamental throat patch. In outdoor aviaries placed in prime breeding habitat, males were allowed to choose between a colourful and a drab female. We found that males associated more with, and performed more sexual behaviours towards, colourful females. Female coloration was not age-related, but correlated significantly with body mass and tarsus length. Thus, we have demonstrated both a male preference for female ornamentation, and a relationship between ornament expression and female body size, which may be indicative of quality. Our results refute the correlated response hypothesis and support the hypothesis that female ornamentation is sexually selected.     

Paternal care as a conditional strategy: distinct reproductive tactics associated with elaboration of plumage ornamentation in the house finch

When individuals in a population differ in physiological conditionand residual reproductive value, selection should favor phenotypicplasticity in reproductive investment such that individualsare able to adopt the reproductive tactic that results in thehighest fitness under given conditions. Here we examined reproductivetactics in relation to the elaboration of condition-dependentsexual ornamentation (carotenoid breast coloration) in a Montanapopulation of the house finches (Carpodacus mexicanus). Malesused distinct reproductive tactics depending on elaborationof their sexual ornamentation. Males with red pigmentation (maximum ornament elaboration) paired with females that nestedearlier, but these males did little provisioning of incubatingfemales and nestlings. In contrast, males with yellow colorationpaired with females that nested later, but these males fedfemale and nestlings more. Consequently, for red males offspringrecruitment was primarily affected by earlier nest initiation, whereas in yellow males it was affected most by male provisioning.In males with intermediate plumage coloration, all measuredcomponents, nest initiation, provisioning of incubating female,and nestling feeding, strongly contributed to offspring recruitment.The fitness consequences of alternative reproductive tacticsof males were influenced by breeding experience and fidelityof their mates. Among first-time breeders, red males achievedthe highest fecundity because of the advantage gained throughearly nesting and pairing with more experienced females andbecause of compensation by their mates for low male provisioningof nestlings. Among experienced breeders, males with intermediateplumage coloration achieved the highest fecundity because ofthe combined benefits of relatively early pairing and high parental care. High variation in sexual ornamentation in a Montana populationof house finches may favor distinct associations of sexualdisplays with a particular set of reproductive behaviors.     

In the eyes of the beholders: Female choice and avian predation risk associated with an exaggerated male butterfly color

Color ornaments are often viewed as products of countervailing sexual and natural selection, because more colorful, more attractive individuals may also be more conspicuous to predators. However, while evidence for such countervailing selection exists for vertebrate color ornaments (e.g., Trinidadian guppies), similar studies have yet to be reported in invertebrates. Indeed, evidence for female mate choice based on extant variation in male coloration is limited in invertebrates, and researchers have not explicitly asked whether more attractive males are also more conspicuous to predators. Here we provide evidence that more chromatic male cabbage white butterflies (Pieris rapae) are more attractive to females but should also be more conspicuous to predators. Female P. rapae preferentially mate with more chromatic males when choosing from populations of males with naturally occurring or commensurate, experimentally induced color variation. Mathematical models of female color vision confirm that females should be able to discriminate color differences between prospective mates. Further, chromatic and luminance contrast scores from female visual system models better predicted male mating success than did measures of male color derived more directly from color spectra. Last, models of avian color vision suggest that preferred males should be more conspicuous to known avian predators.     

Male red coloration,female mate preference,and sperm longevity in the cyprinid fish Puntius titteya

In recent decades, the link between the exaggeration of male sexual ornaments and ejaculate quality has received much attention. When males with conspicuous sexual ornaments have high-quality ejaculate, females are believed to obtain benefits, such as high fertilization success and offspring with good genes, by choosing mates on the basis of male ornamentation. In this study, we examined the relationships among male body coloration, female mate preference, and sperm longevity in the sexually dichromatic fish Puntius titteya. Males of this species assume a bright red coloration over the entire body, and neither sex invests in the parental care of eggs. In the female preference test, females preferred males with redder body coloration over their counterpart males with duller coloration. In addition, the sperm longevity test indicated that redder males had sperm with greater longevity. These results suggest that the red coloration of males in this species may signal sperm longevity and that females can mate with males with higher quality sperm by choosing redder males.     

Age differences in blue tit Parus caeruleus plumage colour: within‐individual changes or colour‐biased survival?

In many species of passerine birds yearlings display a less elaborate version of the adult secondary sexual traits, but the causes of such differences in ornamentation are not always well understood. We studied age-related changes in blue tit Parus caeruleus UV/blue structural crown coloration, a sexually selected trait. In our Austrian study population, older blue tits, irrespective of sex, displayed on average a more ultraviolet (lower hue, higher UV chroma), more chromatic and brighter crown coloration than yearlings. This age dichromatism was caused by within-individual changes in the expression of crown coloration between years since males and females became more UV, more chromatic and brighter as they aged. Colour biased survival did not contribute to the observed pattern of age dichromatism since crown coloration was largely unrelated to overwinter survival. Between-year repeatability of crown colour was significant for most colour variables but low in general, and lower for females than for males. In the blue tit, yearling males might benefit from being less ornamented by avoiding adult aggression but at the expense of sexual attractiveness. Adaptive explanations of blue tit age dichromatism should however take into account that age effects were of similar magnitude in males and females. This suggests that both male and female yearlings could benefit from being less ornamented and hence that sexual selection might be acting on both sexes simultaneously in this species.     

Blue structural coloration of male eastern bluebirds Sialia sialis predicts incubation provisioning to females

Plumage coloration has been suggested to serve as an honest signal of benefits that males provide to females. One benefit proposed for females that choose to mate with elaborately colored males is that such males might provide more food resources to the females. To test this hypothesis, we investigated the relationship between the rates at which males provisioned incubating females and the structural ultraviolet (UV)/blue coloration and melanin-based chestnut coloration of male eastern bluebirds Sialia sialis , a sexually dichromatic songbird in which coloration has been shown to be sexually selected in males. We found that males with brighter UV/blue coloration provisioned incubating females more often than did drabber males. Melanin coloration, however, was not correlated with provisioning rates. Moreover, provisioning rates were correlated with the length of time that females spent off the nest, indicating an important benefit of increased male provisioning. These data support the hypothesis that female bluebirds receive direct resource benefits by pairing with males with bright structural coloration.     

Multiple mating and sequential mate choice in guppies: females trade up

The trade-up hypothesis outlines a behavioural strategy that females could use to maximize the genetic benefits to their offspring. The hypothesis proposes that females should be more willing to accept a mate when the new male encountered is a superior genetic source to previous mates. We provide a direct test of the trade-up hypothesis using guppies (Poecilia reticulata), and evaluate both behavioural and paternity data. Virgin female guppies were presented sequentially with two males of varying attractiveness, and their responsiveness to each male was quantified. Male attractiveness (ornamentation) was scored as the amount of orange coloration on their body. Females were generally less responsive to second-encountered males, yet responsiveness to second males was an increasing function of male ornamentation. These attractive second males also sired a greater proportion of the offspring. There was an overall tendency for last-male advantage in paternity, and this advantage was most exaggerated when the second male was more ornamented than the first. Finally, we found that our estimate of relative sperm number did not account for any significant variation in paternity. Our results suggest that female guppies may use pre-copulatory mechanisms to maximize the genetic quality of their offspring.     

Dietary carotenoids predict plumage coloration in wild house finches

Carotenoid pigments are a widespread source of ornamental coloration in vertebrates and expression of carotenoid-based colour displays has been shown to serve as an important criterion in female mate choice in birds and fishes. Unlike other integumentary pigments, carotenoids cannot be synthesized; they must be ingested. Carotenoid-based coloration is condition-dependent and has been shown to be affected by both parasites and nutritional condition. A controversial hypothesis is that the expression of carotenoid-based coloration in wild vertebrates is also affected by the amount and types of carotenoid pigments that are ingested. We tested this carotenoid-limitation hypothesis by sampling the gut contents of moulting house finches and comparing the concentration of carotenoid pigments in their gut contents with the colour of growing feathers. We found a positive association: males that ingested food with a higher concentration of carotenoid pigments grew brighter ornamental plumage. We also compared the concentration of carotenoids in the gut contents of males from two subspecies of house finches with small and large patches of carotenoid-based coloration. Consistent with the hypothesis that carotenoid access drives the evolution of carotenoid-based colour displays, males from the population with limited ornamentation had much lower concentrations of carotenoids in their gut contents than males from the population with extensive ornamentation. These observations support the idea that carotenoid intake plays a part in determining the plumage brightness of male house finches.     

Reproductive correlates of plumage coloration of female Mountain Bluebirds

Many studies have shown that the plumage coloration of male birds can act as an honest signal of quality, indicating benefits that a female could gain from pairing with a specific male. In some species, females also display ornamental plumage, but less is known about the function and potential adaptive significance of female coloration because most research has focused on male coloration. Male Mountain Bluebirds (Sialia currucoides) display full body, ultraviolet (UV)‐blue plumage, whereas female plumage is more subdued, with blue color focused on the rump, wing, and tail. During the 2011 and 2012 breeding seasons (May–July) near Kamloops, BC, Canada, we examined coloration of the rump and tail of female Mountain Bluebirds to determine if their plumage could act as an indicator of direct reproductive benefits (e.g., enhanced parental care or reproductive success) to potential mates. We found no relationship between female plumage coloration and either provisioning rate or fledging success. However, female coloration varied with age, with after‐second‐year (ASY) females having brighter, more UV‐blue tail feathers than second‐year (SY) females. In addition, ASY females with brighter, more UV‐blue tails had larger clutches. We also observed positive assortative mating by tarsus length. Because previous work with other species suggests that female body size may be a good predictor of breeding success, males could potentially benefit from pairing with larger females. However, reproductive success did not vary with female size in our study. Although our evidence that structural plumage coloration of female Mountain Bluebirds is a signal of direct reproductive benefits for males (e.g., higher reproductive success) is limited, our results (i.e., ASY females with brighter tails than SY females, and ASY females with brighter tails having larger clutches) do suggest the potential for sexual selection to act on female coloration.     

Stress, social behaviour, and secondary sexual traits in a male primate

We examined variation in glucocorticoid levels in the mandrill, a brightly coloured primate species, to identify major social influences on stress hormones, and investigate relationships among glucocorticoid levels, testosterone and secondary sexual ornamentation. We collected a total of 317 fecal samples for 16 adult male mandrills over 13 months, including mating and non-mating periods and periods of both dominance rank stability and instability, and compared fecal glucocorticoid levels with dominance rank, rank stability, presence of receptive females, gastro-intestinal parasite infection, fecal testosterone and facial red coloration. Glucocorticoid levels did not vary systematically with dominance rank, but increased when the dominance hierarchy was unstable, and increased in the presence of receptive females. The relationship between dominance rank and glucocorticoid levels changed direction according to the stability of the dominance hierarchy: glucocorticoid levels were higher in subordinate males under stable conditions, but under conditions of instability higher ranking males had higher glucocorticoid levels. The influence of dominance rank also interacted with the presence of receptive females: glucocorticoids were higher in dominant males than in subordinates, but only during mating periods, suggesting that dominant males are more stressed than subordinates during such periods. These findings support previous studies showing that the relationship between glucocorticoids and dominance rank in male baboons is dependent on the social environment. We also found that males with higher glucocorticoids suffered a higher diversity of gastrointestinal parasite infection, in line with evidence that glucocorticoids suppress the immune system in other species. However, we found no support for the stress-mediated immunocompetence handicap hypothesis for the evolution of condition-dependent ornaments: glucocorticoid and testosterone levels were positively related, rather than the negative relationship predicted by the hypothesis, and we found no relationship between red colour and glucocorticoid levels, suggesting that glucocorticoids do not play a role in translating social conditions or physical health into ornament expression in this species.     

Male eastern bluebirds trade future ornamentation for current reproductive investment

Life-history theory proposes that organisms must trade-off investment in current and future reproduction. Production of ornamental display is an important component of reproductive effort that has rarely been considered in tests of allocation trade-offs. Male eastern bluebirds (Sialia sialis) display brilliant ultraviolet-blue plumage that is correlated with mate acquisition and male competitive ability. To investigate trade-offs between current reproductive effort and the future expression of a sexually selected ornament, we manipulated the parental effort of males by changing their brood sizes. We found that parents provisioned experimentally enlarged broods more often than reduced broods. As predicted by life-history theory, the change in parental effort had a significant effect on the relative plumage ornamentation of males in the subsequent year: males with reduced broods significantly increased in plumage brightness. Moreover, this change in plumage coloration had a direct effect on the timing of breeding in the following season: males that displayed brighter plumage in the year following the manipulation mated with females that initiated egg laying earlier in the season. These data indicate that male bluebirds must trade-off conserving energy for production of future ornamentation versus expending energy for current reproduction.     

Video mate preferences of female three-spined sticklebacks from populations with divergent male coloration

This study evaluated whether diversity in male ornamental traits between populations is associated with a corresponding diversity in female preferences, or whether males can evolve divergent ornamentation even when female preferences remain relatively consistent. Video editing techniques were used to manipulate the coloration of recorded images of male three-spined sticklebacks, Gasterosteus aculeatus, and these images were presented to female sticklebacks from populations with black or red male nuptial coloration. Overall, females responded preferentially to images of males with black or red coloration over images with the dull coloration of females and some males; although preferences differed between populations, these differences were not statistically significant. Thus divergence in male ornaments was probably not caused by a corresponding divergence in female preferences. The results do not, however, allow clear discrimination between the various hypotheses for the evolution of female mating preferences.     

Structural and functional aspects of variation of the breeding plumage ornamentation in the male Pied Flycatcher Ficedula hypoleuca (Aves: passeriformes)

Inter- and intraindividual variation of the breeding plumage ornamentation in male Pied Flycatcher Ficedula hypoleuca from the Moscow province population (55 degrees 44' N 36 degrees 51' E) was studied using long-term data (1996-2005). Eumelanin prevailing colour type (CT) scored according to the seven-step Dorst scale (Dorst, 1936), age, and reproductive status during the current breeding season were analyzed as potential sources of variation of the white ornamentation on the forehead, the wings, and the tail in males. Male CT strongly varied, from almost black to cryptic brownish (2-7, average 4.4, N = 1403). On average CT became I1degree darker with age and tended to be stable after the age of two years. Initial and final CT strongly correlated (r = 0.76). Wing ornamentation and forehead patch (FP) were associated with both initial and final CT, whereas correlation between tail ornamentation and CT was observed only in aged males. Ornamentation was most variable in males with cryptic (pale) CT. Such males had, on average, less intense forehead and wing ornamentation than conspicuous males, compensating this difference by having more intense ornamentation next year. These data suggest the weakening of morphogenetic relations between prevailing colour and ornamentation in males with cryptic phenotype. The return rate (rate of conspicuous males returning to their previous nesting territory) was not related to the success of their previous breeding attempts. Among pale males, the return rate was higher in breeders than in non-breeders. The relation between FP shape and reproductive status was pronounced only in pale males. Among pale males, previous breeders and non-breeders displayed no difference in the degree of prevailing colour darkening next year. In conspicuous males, previous breeding led to the weakening of dorsal eumelanin pigmentation of the new plumage, which suggests the existence of tradeoffs between reproductive efforts and the development of rich eumelanin coloration. Among pale males, previous breeders displayed a higher rate of FP widening next year than previous non-breeders. Diffrerent patterns of relations between male ornamentation and reproductive experience suggest that the females can use plural clues to evaluate the quality of their potential mates.     

Female plumage coloration is sensitive to the cost of reproduction. An experiment in blue tits

1. A growing number of studies suggest that female ornaments are linked to maternal quality and influence male mate choice. These findings challenge the traditional male-biased view of sexual selection and the hypothesis that female ornaments are the outcome of a genetic correlation with male ornaments. To further test the hypothesis that female traits have a function, it is now essential to investigate their honesty and to determine how signalling and reproduction interact in females. If female traits are honest indicators of quality, then they are likely to have a specific signalling function. 2. We investigated whether carry-over effects of reproduction might ensure the honesty of plumage colour signalling of a bird species with conspicuous UV-blue and yellow coloration, the blue tit Cyanistes caeruleus. Reproductive effort was manipulated by removing clutches, thereby forcing both sexes to reproduce twice and to raise chicks later in the breeding season when food is less abundant. In the year following this manipulation, we investigated the change in plumage in experimental and control males and females. The change was measured in the two putative feather ornaments, the UV-blue cap and the yellow breast, and another feather trait probably less likely to be sexually selected: the wing length. We also tested whether higher-quality females had their coloration less affected by the experiment. 3. We found that control but not manipulated males and females increased their signal towards UV. In addition, in the manipulated group, females that were able to lay more eggs had their UV-blue coloration less affected by the treatment. For yellow coloration, we found that manipulated yearlings but not manipulated adults decreased their yellow chroma in comparison with control. Lastly, our results show that the condition of the manipulated females tended to be positively correlated with yellow chroma. 4. These results show that the trade-offs between reproduction and signalling can ensure the honesty of conspicuous plumage traits in female and male blue tits. In addition, they suggest that female traits have the potential to evolve under sexual selection in this and other bird species.     

Age‐dependent relationships between coloration and reproduction in a species exhibiting delayed plumage maturation in females

Males of many bird species exhibit delayed plumage maturation (DPM), a condition in which young individuals display an immature plumage. Several adaptive hypotheses have been suggested for the signaling utility of DPM in males. Tree swallows Tachycineta bicolor, however, are one of the few bird species to exhibit DPM in females, but not in males. Few studies have focused on the age‐dependent signaling function of female plumage traits due to the uncommon nature of DPM in females. Therefore, we used reflectance spectrometry and scanning electron microscopy of sub‐adult (melanin‐based brown) and adult (iridescent‐blue structural) female tree swallows to characterize plumage coloration. Next, we asked whether variation in plumage coloration in females reflects condition and reproductive performance between and within age classes. We found that older females were in better body condition and laid eggs earlier in the season compared to young females; however, average egg mass and reproductive success (number of offspring fledged and offspring condition) did not differ between age classes. There were significant relationships indicating that young females with more‐ornamented (darker brown melanin) plumage laid smaller eggs, but hatched eggs earlier in the season leading to nestlings in better condition compared to less‐ornamented young females. Older females that were more ornamented (brighter, greater blue chroma, and lower hues in iridescent plumage) laid heavier eggs, but ornamentation was negatively associated with immune function, health, and reproductive success. Together, these data suggest that female ornamentation reflects reproductive performance and that there are complicated relationships between plumage coloration, condition, and reproductive performance that ultimately influence reproductive success.