Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • News & Views
  • Published:

Behavioural ecology

Why are some males dull?

Nature volume 407, pages 955–956 (2000)Cite this article

Birds vary extensively in plumage colour, both between and within species. The males of a species are usually brighter than the females, and older males tend to be brighter than younger birds. But males of the same age within a single population may also show great variety in colour. In such cases, the more brightly coloured males are usually socially dominant and are the mating partners of choice for females1. Why, then, hasn't natural selection eliminated the duller varieties?

On page 1000 of this issue, Greene and colleagues2 suggest one explanation to the puzzle. They studied the lazuli bunting (Passerina amoena), a beautiful small finch of North America. Adult lazuli bunting males have turquoise-blue upper parts with a pale cinnamon colour across the breast and sides. Some yearling males are also brightly coloured, but many are dull brown and female in appearance, while still others have intermediate brightness (see the photographs on page 1000). Greene et al. show that both the brightly coloured and the dull yearling males sire more chicks than yearlings of intermediate colours. It seems that nature favours the extremes at the expense of those in between. This phenomenon is called disruptive selection, and has been seen only a few times in animals.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Access options

Buy this article

  • Purchase on SpringerLink
  • Instant access to the full article PDF.

USD 39.95

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

References

  1. Andersson, M. Sexual Selection (Princeton Univ. Press, 1994).

    Google Scholar 

  2. Greene, E. et al. Nature 407, 1000–1003 (2000).

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  3. Rohwer, S., Fretwell, S. D. & Niles, D. M. Am. Nat. 115, 400– 437 (1980).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  4. Muehter, V. R., Greene, E. & Ratcliffe, L. Behav. Ecol. Sociobiol. 41, 281 –290 (1997).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  5. Gross, M. R. Nature 313, 47–48 ( 1985).

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  6. Beehler, B. M. & Foster, M. S. Am. Nat. 131, 203–219 (1988).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  7. Hill, G. H., Montgomerie, R., Roeder, C. & Boag, P. Behav. Ecol. Sociobiol. 35, 193–199 (1994).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  8. Lifjeld, J. T., Slagsvold, T., Dale, S. & Ellegren, H. Auk 114, 112–115 (1997).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  9. Petrie, M. Nature 371, 598–599 ( 1994).

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  10. Brooks, R. Nature 406, 67–70 ( 2000).

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  11. Rice, W. R. Nature 381, 232–234 ( 1996).

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Biology, University of Oslo, PO Box 1050 Blindern, Oslo, N-0156, Norway

    Tore Slagsvold

Authors
  1. Tore Slagsvold
    View author publications

    Search author on:PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Tore Slagsvold.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Slagsvold, T. Why are some males dull?. Nature 407, 955–956 (2000). https://doi.org/10.1038/35039657

Download citation

  • Issue date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/35039657

Search

Advanced search

Quick links

Nature Briefing

Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily.

Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox. Sign up for Nature Briefing