González-García Juan Manuel, Lara Carlos, Quesada Javier, Chávez-Zichinelli Carlos A, Serrano-Meneses Martín A
Doctorado en Ciencias Biológicas, Universidad Autónoma de Tlaxcala, Carretera Tlaxcala Km 1.5, 90070, Puebla, Tlaxcala, Mexico.
Centro de Investigación en Ciencias Biológicas, Universidad Autónoma de Tlaxcala, Km 10.5 Autopista Tlaxcala-San Martín Texmelucan, San Felipe Ixtacuixtla, 90120, Tlaxcala, Mexico.
Naturwissenschaften. 2018 Apr 3;105(3-4):31. doi: 10.1007/s00114-018-1553-1.
The role of badges as indicators of contest ability has been previously described. In hummingbirds, the exhibition of a badge is expected to save energy expenditure in agonistic interactions and to favor energy intake. Here, we investigate whether variable supercilium size in the white-eared hummingbird has a role in dominance status signaling. Firstly, 45 hummingbird males were captured and their superciliums were photographed to investigate variation in size and any possible allometric relationships. Secondly, 42 male birds were used to analyze whether the supercilium has a role in dominance status signaling in a dyadic contest. We found that supercilium size varied continuously but that despite variability between individuals, there was no relationship between supercilium size and body size. However, our dyad experiment indicated that birds with larger badges were able to make more visits to the feeders than individuals with smaller badges. We suggest a status signaling function of the supercilium.
徽章作为竞争能力指标的作用此前已有描述。在蜂鸟中，展示徽章有望在争斗互动中节省能量消耗并有利于能量摄入。在此，我们研究白耳蜂鸟中可变的眉纹大小在优势地位信号传递中是否起作用。首先，捕获45只雄性蜂鸟并拍摄它们的眉纹，以研究大小变化及任何可能的异速生长关系。其次，使用42只雄鸟来分析眉纹在二元竞争中是否在优势地位信号传递中起作用。我们发现眉纹大小连续变化，但尽管个体间存在差异，眉纹大小与体型之间并无关系。然而，我们的二元实验表明，徽章较大的鸟比徽章较小的个体能更多次访问喂食器。我们认为眉纹具有地位信号传递功能。
