Hello Tweeties,

as birders, we all are aware that male birds have
colorful plumage and elaborate ornaments because
females like them that way, while the females are
drably colored and plain so they don't get eaten while
they incubate their eggs, right? However, there are
quite a few species where the females are quite
colorful in their own right, yet no one was sure why
this is so (well, except for those unusual mating
systems where the female is the territory holder while
their males do the incubating). But a paper was
recently published that looks at this phenomenon in
blue tits, a monochromatic species, and finds that
females are using bright colors in the same way that
males are; as an honest signal indicating their
quality, which the males use to select the female who
has the greatest likelihood of increasing his own
reproductive success;

http://scienceblogs.com/grrlscientist/2007/12/sexual_selection_favors_bright.php

So, in short, it appears that both the females and the
males are selecting each other -- something I've often
suspected in monochromatic species.

Devorah
GrrlScientist
Central Park, NYC




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