Facultad de Ciencias Exactas, Físicas y Naturales, Centro de Zoología Aplicada, Universidad Nacional de Córdoba, Córdoba, Argentina.
Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas (CONICET), Instituto de Diversidad y Ecología Animal (IDEA), Córdoba, Argentina.
PLoS One. 2023 Feb 24;18(2):e0280819. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0280819. eCollection 2023.
Molting is an important process in which old and worn feathers are exchanged for new ones. Plumage color is determined by pigments such as carotenes, melanin and by the ultrastructure of the feather. The importance of plumage coloration has been widely studied in different groups of birds, generally at a particular time of the year. However, plumage coloration is not static and few studies have addressed the change in plumage color over time and its relationship to reproductive tasks. The Eared Dove (Zenaida auriculata, Des Murs, 1847) has a melanistic coloration with sexual dichromatism in different body regions. The Eared Dove´s crown is the most exposed body region during the bowing display. Our objective was therefore to accurately determine the molting period of the crown feathers and study the seasonal variation in their coloration in females and males. Our findings indicate a molting period of 6 months (January to June). The new feathers are undergoing changes in their coloration from July to December. During that period we apply an avian vision model then enabled us to reveal a seasonal variation in the coloration of the crown feathers in both sexes, as given by a change in the chromatic distances. The highest values in the chromatic distances towards the reproductive period are given by a change in the UV-violet component of the spectrum, indicating changes in the microstructure of the feather. This change in crown coloration towards the breeding season could be linked to reproductive behaviors.
换羽是一个重要的过程，在此过程中，旧的、磨损的羽毛会被新的羽毛所取代。羽毛的颜色由类胡萝卜素、黑色素等色素以及羽毛的超微结构决定。羽毛颜色的重要性在不同鸟类群体中得到了广泛研究，通常是在一年中的特定时间。然而，羽毛颜色并不是静态的，很少有研究关注羽毛颜色随时间的变化及其与繁殖任务的关系。棕头绿鸠（Zenaida auriculata，Des Murs，1847）具有斑驳的颜色，不同身体部位存在性别二态性。棕头绿鸠的冠部在鞠躬展示中是最暴露的身体部位。因此，我们的目标是准确确定冠羽的换羽期，并研究雌性和雄性冠羽颜色的季节性变化。我们的研究结果表明，换羽期为 6 个月（1 月至 6 月）。新羽毛的颜色从 7 月到 12 月发生变化。在此期间，我们应用了鸟类视觉模型，然后能够揭示雌雄两性冠羽颜色的季节性变化，这是由色觉距离的变化所给出的。在繁殖期，色觉距离的最高值由光谱中 UV-紫光成分的变化给出，这表明羽毛微观结构的变化。冠羽颜色向繁殖季节的这种变化可能与繁殖行为有关。
