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Sources of distinctness of juvenile plumage in Western Palearctic passerines

Abstract:

Juveniles of many avian species possess a spotted or mottled body plumage that is visually distinct from the plumage of adults. In other species, however, juveniles fledge with a body plumage that is just a pale representation of adult female plumage. The reasons for this variation are poorly understood. Several hypotheses concerning social (parent–offspring, adult–juvenile, juvenile–juvenile), ecological (predation risk) and physiological (costs of plumage development) implications of juvenile body plumage are presented in relation to predictions concerning associations with certain ecological and life-history attributes of avian species. In the present study, we conduct a phylogenetically corrected comparative analysis of Western Palearctic passerines looking for sources of variation in the incidence of distinct and adult-like juvenile body plumages. We scored plumages based on plates in the Handbook of the …