I must have missed this lesson in my ornithology class.

Why is it that there are so many species of highly colored birds resident in
the tropics, and so few in our area? Once I got over the shock of some of
the colors I saw in Costa Rica I got to wondering. Territory seems to be set
by vocalization, not necessarily color. Why is color a selection force? Or
is it? Do brighter males get better territories, or more mates? Do females
choose males for brightness because that indicates fitness?

While in Costa Rica I watched some kind of bird eating hawk nail a Scarlet
tanager in midair. It seems in that case, being so contrasting against the
jungle made for easy pickings. This would seem to make one think bright
color would be a selective disadvantage.

And to whom do I complain to about getting more color in the northern
birds? After two weeks of wild electric blue Honeycreepers, and Toucans, the
chickadees and juncos and song sparrows are just not satisfactory. Ahhh, A
stellars jay did liven up my feeder this morning so I feel a little bit
better......but still, how come northern birds are sooooo uncolorful
relative to the tropics?

Rob Sandelin
Sky Valley Environments <http://www.nonprofitpages.com/nica/SVE.htm>
Field skills training for student naturalists
Floriferous at msn.com


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