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Bluer means better

Natural History, Oct, 2004 by Nick W. Atkinson

Throughout nature, color acts as a signal. Juan Moreno, an ornithologist at the National Museum of Natural Sciences in Madrid, and his colleagues think the bright blue eggs of the pied flycatcher are no exception. But what, and to whom, are the eggs signaling? After all, eye-catching color would seem an open invitation to scavenging predators, yet many of the world's birds lay blue or green eggs. So what's the story?

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Moreno and his team recently found evidence that the signal is aimed at Dad. In pied flycatchers, both parents care for the nestlings, but the male needs prodding. Moreno's team noted that the brighter the blue of the eggshells, the larger the eggs and the more food the males brought to the nestlings. The blue color comes from a substance that's taxing to produce but has beneficial, antioxidant properties. Hence, by laying big, azure eggs, the female may--a bit like the cartoon millionaire who lights his cigar with a banknote announcing that she's got resources to burn, and that she's passed plenty of them along to her offspring so they can weather the stresses ahead. That message may help convince Dad to do his bit. ("Egg colouration and male parental effort in the pied flycatcher Ficedula hypoleuca," Journal of Avian Biology 35:300-304, July 2004)

Bluer means better

Natural History, Oct, 2004 by Nick W. Atkinson

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