A Red Bird in a Brown Bag The Function and Evolution of Colorful Plumage in the House Finch

by Hill, Geoffrey E.

• ISBN13: 9780195148480
• ISBN10: 0195148487
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2002-09-26
• Publisher: Oxford University Press

Summary

This is an account of studies of the function and evolution of colorful plumage in the House Finch. It is also an engaging study on the evolution of sexual selection in birds and a lively portrait of the challenges and constraints of experimental design facing any field investigator working with animal behavior. Part I sets the stage for modern studies of the function of plumage coloration with a review of the nineteenth and beginning of the twentieth centuries. Part II focuses on the proximate control and present function of plumage coloration. Part III takes a more explicitly evolutionary approach to the study of plumage coloration using biogeography and phylogeny to test hypotheses for why specific forms of plumage color display have evolved. It concludes with an account of comparative studies that have been conducted in the House Finch and other cardueline finches and the insight these studies have provided on the evolution of carotenoid-based ornamental coloration.

Author Biography

Geoffrey E. Hill is Alumni Professor of Biological Sciences at Auburn University.

Table of Contents

Part 1. Prelude
Darwinism and Wallacism: A Brief Account of the Long History of the Study of Plumage Coloration	3	(12)
A Red Bird in a Brown Bag: An Introduction to the House Finch	15	(24)
In the Eye of the Beholder: Color Vision and the Quantification of Color	39	(16)
Part 2. The Proximate Control and Function of Red Plumage
You Are What You Eat: Plumage Pigments and Carotenoid Physiology	55	(28)
A Matter of Condition: The Effects of Environment on Plumage Coloration	83	(46)
Darwin Vindicated: Female Choice and Sexual Selection in the House Finch	129	(24)
Fine Fathers and Good Genes: The Direct and Indirect Benefits of Female Choice	153	(16)
Studs, Duds, and Studly Duds: Plumage Coloration, Hormones, and Dominance	169	(24)
The Feeling's Mutual: Female Plumage Coloration and Male Mate Choice	193	(26)
Part 3. Biogeography and the Evolution of Colorful Plumage
From the Halls of Montezuma to the Shores of Tripoli (New York): Populations, Subspecies, and Geographic Variation in Ornamental Coloration	219	(30)
Why Red? The Evolution of Color Display	249	(32)
Epilogue	281	(6)
Glossary	287	(4)
References	291	(22)
Index	313