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Plumage Ornamentation As an Indicator of Female Age and an Influence in Male Mate Choice in Protonotaria Citrea, the Prothonotary Warbler in Virginia

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Plumage Ornamentation As an Indicator of Female Age and an Influence in Male Mate Choice in Protonotaria Citrea, the Prothonotary Warbler in Virginia Virginia Commonwealth University VCU Scholars Compass Theses and Dissertations Graduate School 2008 Plumage Ornamentation as an Indicator of Female Age and an Influence in Male Mate Choice in Protonotaria Citrea, the Prothonotary Warbler in Virginia. Terry Smith Virginia Commonwealth University Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarscompass.vcu.edu/etd Part of the Biology Commons © The Author Downloaded from https://scholarscompass.vcu.edu/etd/1559 This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the Graduate School at VCU Scholars Compass. It has been accepted for inclusion in Theses and Dissertations by an authorized administrator of VCU Scholars Compass. For more information, please contact [email protected]. School of Humanities and Sciences, Department of Biology Virginia Commonwealth University This is to certify that the thesis prepared by Terry Lee Smith entitled PLUMAGE ORNAMENTATION AS AN INDICATOR OF FEMALE AGE AND AN INFLUENCE IN MALE MATE CHOICE IN PROTONOTARIA CITREA, THE PROTHONOTARY WARBLER, IN VIRGINIA has been approved by her committee as satisfactory completion of the thesis or dissertation requirement for the degree of Master of Science. Leonard A. Smock, Professor and Chairman, Department of Biology Robert J. Reilly, Professor, Center for Environmental Studies Donald R. Young, Professor, Department of Biology Michael L. Fine, Professor, Department of Biology Dr. Robert Holsworth, Dean of the College of Humanities and Sciences Dr. F. Douglas Boudinot, Dean of the School of Graduate Studies Signed June 18, 2008 © Terry Lee Smith 2008 All Rights Reserved PLUMAGE ORNAMENTATION AS AN INDICATOR OF FEMALE AGE AND AN INFLUENCE IN MALE MATE CHOICE IN PROTONOTARIA CITREA, THE PROTHONOTARY WARBLER IN VIRGINIA. A Thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science at Virginia Commonwealth University. by TERRY LEE SMITH Bachelor of Science, Christopher Newport University, 1995 Director: DR. LEONARD A. SMOCK, CHAIRMAN, DEPARTMENT OF BIOLOGY AND DR. ROBERT J. REILLY, PROFESSOR, CENTER FOR ENVIRONMENTAL STUDIES Virginia Commonwealth University Richmond, Virginia June, 2008 ii Acknowledgements This project could not possibly have been completed without the assistance and support of my advisors Dr. Robert Reilly, Dr. Leonard Smock, Dr. Donald Young and Dr. Michael Fine. Dr. Charles Blem gave me my start on this project; his enthusiasm for avian research is infectious. A number of people contributed field assistance, additional advisement, storage or equipment: Charles Blem and Robert J. Reilly provided USFWS bands in addition to birding and banding equipment, and training in handling and capturing birds. Mark Battista and the Dutch Gap Conservation Area granted access to the gated study site and equipment storage as well as the use of canoes. Thanks also to Jill Reid and Emily Watkinson for advice and encouragement. I received generous field work assistance from Heidi Clayton, Jenny Tarasova, Sara Felvey, Nichole Winning, Ashley Tiedeman, Casey Seelig, Tommy Robinson, Steven Brantley, Donna Kennedy, Rene Cabaniss, Maggie Butcher, Drew Garey, Jaime Fuest, and Crystal Nance. Julie Nauman, Dr. Darcy May provided advice regarding statistics. Dr. Edward Crawford took on some extra grading work for the field assistants who wrote Independent Study papers based on their experiences on 'Team Warbler'. Dr. Thomas M. Reeves provided invaluable advice on statistics, graphics and content organization, and Dr. Linda Phillips graciously allowed me to sit in on her grantsmanship writing class. Last but not least I must thank my parents Heidi and Robert Clayton for their support during my project. iii Table of Contents Page Acknowledgements............................................................................................................. ii List of Tables .......................................................................................................................v List of Figures.................................................................................................................... vi Abstract............................................................................................................................. vii Introduction and Objectives.................................................................................................1 Methods .......................................................................................................................5 Statistical Methods ..............................................................................................................7 Results .......................................................................................................................8 Tail Spots and Age in Females ................................................................................8 Tail Spots and Age in Males....................................................................................9 Correlation Matrix of Study Variables ....................................................................9 Age in Mated Pairs...................................................................................................9 Tail Spot Number in Mated Pairs ..........................................................................10 Discussion …………………………………………………………………………….….11 Tail Spots and Age in Females ..............................................................................12 Tail Spots and Age in Males..................................................................................13 Age in Mated Pairs.................................................................................................14 Age and Weight .....................................................................................................15 Wing and Tail Length ............................................................................................15 Weight and Tail Spots............................................................................................15 Unexpected Correlations………...…………..………………………………...…16 Ornamentation and Sexual Selection.………….…………………...………….....16 iv Literature Cited………………………………………..……………………..………….22 Appendix A……………………………………………………………………………..27 Vita……………………………………………………………………………………...39 v List of Figures Page Figure 1:Tail spot variation in Warbler species......................................................................28 Figure 2: Descriptive statistics for female birds. ....................................................................29 Figure 3: Descriptive statistics for male birds. .......................................................................30 Figure 4: Linear regression of Age on Number of Tail Spots in female birds ...........................31 Figure 5: Linear regression of Age on Number of Tail Spots in male birds.. ............................32 Figure 6: Linear regression of Female Age on Male Age within mated pairs............................33 Figure 7: Linear regression of Number of Tail Spots within mated pairs..................................34 vi List of Tables Page Table 1: Cross-tabulation of Age and Number of Tail Spots in female birds.. ..........................35 Table 2: Cross-tabulation of Age and Number of Tail Spots, with the variable Age re-grouped into three ordinal categories. .................................................................................................36 Table 3: Table of correlation coefficients between all pairs of study variables..........................37 Table 4: Cross-tabulation of Number of Tail Spots in males and in females of mated pairs.......38 Abstract PLUMAGE ORNAMENTATION AS AN INDICATOR OF FEMALE AGE AND AN INFLUENCE IN MALE MATE SELECTION IN PROTONOTARIA CITREA, THE PROTHONOTARY WARBLER, IN VIRGINIA. Terry Smith, Bachelor of Science, Christopher Newport University, 1995 A Thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science at Virginia Commonwealth University. Virginia Commonwealth University, 2008 Director: DR. LEONARD A. SMOCK,CHAIRMAN, DEPARTMENT OF BIOLOGY AND DR. ROBERT J. REILLY PROFESSOR, CENTER FOR ENVIRONMENTAL STUDIES Flamboyant plumage and ornamentation is common and well-known in male birds; it serves as a sexual display to attract potential mates. While flamboyant plumage is less common and usually more subtle in female birds, it does occur in some species such as Dark-Eyed Juncos (Junco hyemalis) and Prothonotary Warblers (Protonotaria citrea). Prothonotary Warblers display relatively subtle sexual dimorphism. This study examines variations in tail spot patterns in Prothonotary Warblers and relates those variations to age in females. Females with fewer than six spots tend to be two years old or younger; females with six spots or more tend to be three years old or older. The tail spot numbers of mated pairs were also analyzed. Statistical analyses indicate that males mate with females with six tail spots more often than they mate with females with other numbers of tail spots. This suggests males prefer females who are at least three years old. Introduction and Objectives Tail spots are usually present in male Wood Warblers, a common moniker for the group of singing, perching birds in the Order Passeriformes, Family Parulidae (Blake 1966, Burtt 1986). According to the otherwise comprehensive monograph by Edward Burtt Jr. describing Wood Warbler plumage, 52 of 113 species of Wood Warblers have tail spots. Burtt did not distinguish
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