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Ornament colour selection, visual contrast and the shape of colour preference functions in great bowerbirds, Chlamydera nuchalis

Endler, John A. and Day, Lainy B. 2006, Ornament colour selection, visual contrast and the shape of colour preference functions in great bowerbirds, Chlamydera nuchalis, Animal behaviour, vol. 72, no. 6, pp. 1405-1416.


Title Ornament colour selection, visual contrast and the shape of colour preference functions in great bowerbirds, Chlamydera nuchalis
Author(s) Endler, John A.
Day, Lainy B.
Journal name Animal behaviour
Volume number 72
Issue number 6
Start page 1405
End page 1416
Publisher Elsevier
Place of publication London, England
Publication date 2006
ISSN 0003-3472
1095-8282
Summary A male bowerbird visual signal includes his own plumage, a structure he  constructs out of plant material and coloured objects (ornaments) he places on or near the structure to make up the bower. Plumage and bower together are used to attract females for mating. Ornaments are known to contrast with plumage, bower structure and visual backgrounds in seven Australian bowerbird species (Endler et al. 2005, Evolution, 50, 1795-1818). We estimated the colour preferences in a wild population of great bowerbirds using artificially coloured objects widely spaced in bird colour space. We found that these birds prefer colours that contrast with their own plumage, the bower structure and the visual backgrounds adjacent to the bower, and that they have very strong dislikes for colours that are similar to their own plumage and to the visual backgrounds. The range of disliked colour hues was much narrower than the range of preferred hues, suggesting that the word 'preference' may be misleading. Preferences for colour are inherently multidimensional and should be studied in the context of their function.
Language eng
Field of Research 059999 Environmental Sciences not elsewhere classified
HERDC Research category C1.1 Refereed article in a scholarly journal
Persistent URL http://hdl.handle.net/10536/DRO/DU:30023048

Document type: Journal Article
Collection: School of Life and Environmental Sciences
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