@article{1e056b5a4a8f4c5ab1326da80ee68db3,
title = "Mouth coloration in nestling Cave Swallows (Petrochelidon fulva) differs from that of adults, is carotenoid based and correlated with body mass",
abstract = "The mouth coloration of nestling birds is hypothesized to be uniquely adaptive during the nestling stage, perhaps signalling condition. To identify nestling-specific colours, we compared adult and nestling gapes in Cave Swallows (Petrochelidon fulva). Nestling gapes reflected more ultraviolet (UV) light and tended to be yellower (because they contained carotenoids). Across broods, heavier nestlings had yellower, less bright, and less UV-rich flanges, and less bright gapes. Nestlings with carotenoid-rich plasma had brighter flanges and yellower gapes. Color did not, however, signal within-brood status. Studies of nestling mouth coloration may benefit from considering complementary and/or competing roles of the trait across ontogeny.",
keywords = "Begging, Gape, Mouth color, Ontogeny, Selection",
author = "Dugas, {Matthew B.} and Kevin McGraw and Strickler, {Stephanie A.}",
note = "Funding Information: Acknowledgements We thank J. Place and J. Stoops for assistance with fieldwork and D. W. Mock and two anonymous reviewers for comments on earlier drafts. Funding was provided by the George M. Sutton Scholarship in Ornithology (M. B. D., S. A. S.) and the Purple Martin Conservation Association (M. B. D.). M. B. D. was supported by an Alumni Fellowship in Zoology and S. A. S. by a Blanche Adams Summer Scholarship, both from the University of Oklahoma. The Welder Wildlife Refuge provided housing during fieldwork. All procedures performed in this study were in accordance with the ethical standards of, and approved by, the University of Oklahoma Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (R06-012, R07-011). This work complied with laws of the USA, and all necessary permits were provided by the US Fish and Wildlife Service and Texas Parks and Wildlife. The datasets generated during and/or analyzed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request. Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2018, Dt. Ornithologen-Gesellschaft e.V.",
year = "2018",
month = apr,
day = "1",
doi = "10.1007/s10336-018-1531-6",
language = "English (US)",
volume = "159",
pages = "581--586",
journal = "Journal of Ornithology",
issn = "2193-7192",
publisher = "Springer Verlag",
number = "2",
}