Boyd Deep Canyon Desert Research Center

20 May, 05 AM - 30 May, 05 AM

Several studies have found that a male bird?s song is an honest indicator of his health or fitness. Costa?s Hummingbird (Calypte costae) males sing a simple song, but certain characteristics of their song may be expensive to produce, for example its high frequency and pure tonality. I will study the possible relationships between reproductive success and song characteristics, and between reproductive success and behavior, in male Costa?s Hummingbirds in southern California. I hypothesize that certain song characteristics and behaviors will be correlated with reproductive success (paternity) of male Costa?s Hummingbirds. I will measure reproductive success of males using genetic paternity tests based on DNA from feathers. I will also observe the behavior of males, and record songs. I predict that the song characteristics peak frequency, bout length, maximum frequency, amplitude, the variance and mean between inter-clicks, the number of dives displays performed, and the amount of singing (number of songs and bouts) will be correlated with the percentage of offspring sired by males. I also predict that the duration of the song elements and song length will not be correlated with paternity percentage. I expect these relationships, because it is energetically expensive to sing loudly, repeatedly, and with high frequency and pure tone. It is also costly to dive repeatedly. The song length and elements characterize the song, so there should be little variance. My study will increase our understanding of selective forces acting on hummingbird song and behavior by studying possible correlations to reproductive success in male Costa?s Hummingbirds.

Visit #19702 @Boyd Deep Canyon Desert Research Center

Approved

Under Project # 19878 | Research

Reproductive Success and Song in Costa's hummingbirds

graduate_student - California State University (CSU), Fullerton

Reservation Members(s)

Erin Chin May 20 - 30, 2010 (11 days)

Reserve Resources(s) | Create Invoice

Mayhew housing facilities 1 May 20 - 30, 2010