Barn swallow antipredator behavior covaries with melanic coloration and predicts survival

摘要: Conspecific individuals often consistently differ in their behavioral responses to specific exogenous stimuli. Such individual differences "personality" have been shown be heritable, suggesting that selection maintains variation personality. However, survival on a major personality trait, antipredator behavior, and its sex-dependency, has seldom measured the wild. Here, we found yearling barn swallows (Hirundo rustica) showed consistency agitation upon repeated exposure restraint-handling protocol, probably reflecting males were more agitated than females. Females exhibited larger behavior likely survive until next breeding season with no among 3 study years nor across 7 colonies, is not maintained by spatiotemporal viability behavior. In both sexes, intensity of melanin-based ventral plumage coloration positively covaried consistent previous observations from diverse vertebrate species. some swallow populations, male targeted directional intersexual selection, melanization signals prospecting females sexual for or other correlated traits, can drive evolution color dimorphism swallows. Thus, occurs role promoting More melanized agitated, implying may signal communication context species where an epigamic trait.