Cosmetic colouring by Bearded Vultures Gypaetus barbatus: still no evidence for an antibacterial function.

ABSTRACT: Bearded Vultures regularly visit ferruginous springs for cosmetic purposes to obtain their reddish plumage colouration. Different hypotheses have been proposed to explain this deliberate application of adventitious colouration: (1) to signal individual dominance status; (2) to exploit an anti-bacterial effect of iron oxides or ochre to reduce feather degradation by bacteria and, in parallel (3) to enable incubating birds to transfer this protection to their developing embryos to increase hatching success. Here, we re-evaluate the antibacterial hypothesis using three experimental approaches: (a) by applying feather-degrading bacteria to stained and unstained bearded vulture feathers; (b) by assessing the antibacterial activity of ochre; and (c) by comparing the breeding success of orange in

SUBMITTER: Margalida A 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6525594 | biostudies-literature | 2019

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature