From drab tyrants to colorful cotingas : habitat determines conspicuousness in plumages but not in songs in a Neotropical bird clade

Animals use a wide array of signals for communication that have been shaped by both natural and sexual selection favoring crypsis and conspicuousness, respectively. In birds, interspecific variation of communication signals is best explained by habitat structure, predation pressures and natural history traits. We used the diverse clade Tyrannida to understand how variation between habitat characteristics and natural history traits shapes the variation in acoustic and visual cues. We used quantitative data that describes conspicuousness in both visual and acoustic channels, and evaluated how diet, habitat, elevational distribution and breeding system, relate with conspicuousness. We used Bayesian mixed models and found that habitat is the best predictor of plumage conspicuousness, but not in song elaboration. In dim-lighted environments birds are usually less contrasting than in light-rich ones. Habitat structure explains best variation in female conspicuousness, where contrast in exposed patches has a positive relation with habitat openness. Song traits related with elaboration and investment were not explained by any of the variables evaluated. Neither elevational distribution nor breeding system were related with either visual or acoustic conspicuousness. In conclusion, our study supports the sensory drive hypothesis for plumage but not for song, suggesting that these two channels of communication are responding differently to the same habitat conditions.

• Autores: Arcila Morales, Carlos David
• Tipo de recurso: Trabajo de grado de pregrado
• Fecha de publicación: 2020
• Institución: Pontificia Universidad Javeriana
• Repositorio: Repositorio Universidad Javeriana
• Idioma: spa
• OAI Identifier: oai:repository.javeriana.edu.co:10554/50735
• Acceso en línea: http://hdl.handle.net/10554/50735
• Palabra clave: Aves; Tyrannida; Conspicuidad; Tyrannida; Conspicuousness; Biología - Tesis y disertaciones académicas; Aves; Canto de las aves - Clasificación; Plumas - Identificación
• Rights: embargoedAccess
• License: Atribución-NoComercial-SinDerivadas 4.0 Internacional