Abstract
The blue tit (Parus caeruleus) has been classified as sexually monochromatic. This classification is based on human colour perception yet, unlike humans, most birds have four spectrally distinct classes of cone and are visually sensitive to wavelengths in the near-ultraviolet (300 to 400 nm). Reflectance spectrophotometry reveals that blue tit plumage shows considerable reflection of UV light. For example, the blue crest shows peak reflectance at wavelengths around 352 nm. Furthermore, the blue tit is sexually dichromatic for multiple regions of plumage, including the crest. Choice trials performed in the laboratory indicate that females prefer males with the brightest crests. This study has implications for both intra- and interspecific studies of sexual selection, as well as future classification of dichromatism, which should not ignore the possibility of variation in reflectance in the UV.
Full Text
The Full Text of this article is available as a PDF (147.3 KB).
Selected References
These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.
- Bennett A. T., Cuthill I. C., Partridge J. C., Lunau K. Ultraviolet plumage colors predict mate preferences in starlings. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1997 Aug 5;94(16):8618–8621. doi: 10.1073/pnas.94.16.8618. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Bennett A. T., Cuthill I. C. Ultraviolet vision in birds: what is its function? Vision Res. 1994 Jun;34(11):1471–1478. doi: 10.1016/0042-6989(94)90149-x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Bowmaker J. K., Heath L. A., Wilkie S. E., Hunt D. M. Visual pigments and oil droplets from six classes of photoreceptor in the retinas of birds. Vision Res. 1997 Aug;37(16):2183–2194. doi: 10.1016/s0042-6989(97)00026-6. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Burkhardt D. Birds, berries and UV. A note on some consequences of UV vision in birds. Naturwissenschaften. 1982 Apr;69(4):153–157. doi: 10.1007/BF00364887. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Goldsmith T. H., Collins J. S., Licht S. The cone oil droplets of avian retinas. Vision Res. 1984;24(11):1661–1671. doi: 10.1016/0042-6989(84)90324-9. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Hunt S, Cuthill IC, Swaddle JP, Bennett ATD. Ultraviolet vision and band-colour preferences in female zebra finches, Taeniopygia guttata. Anim Behav. 1997 Dec;54(6):1383–1392. doi: 10.1006/anbe.1997.0540. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Hurlbert A. Formal connections between lightness algorithms. J Opt Soc Am A. 1986 Oct;3(10):1684–1693. doi: 10.1364/josaa.3.001684. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Nyholm P. G., Brunton J. L., Lingwood C. A. Modelling of the interaction of verotoxin-1 (VT1) with its glycolipid receptor, globotriaosylceramide (Gb3). Int J Biol Macromol. 1995 Jun;17(3-4):199–204. doi: 10.1016/0141-8130(95)92686-k. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- doi: 10.1098/rspb.1997.0221. [DOI] [PMC free article] [Google Scholar]
- doi: 10.1098/rspb.1998.0315. [DOI] [PMC free article] [Google Scholar]