Breeding success but not mate choice is phenotype- and context-dependent in a color polymorphic raptor.

ABSTRACT: Morph-specific mate choice has been proposed as one of the evolutionary mechanisms that contribute to the maintenance of variation in color polymorphic systems. Coloration usually covaries with other phenotypic traits affecting life history and thus is often used as a criterion for mate choice. Here, we assess whether mating patterns, natal dispersal, and breeding output are phenotype-dependent in the color polymorphic Eleonora's falcon. We used a long-term dataset of 946 individually ringed adult falcons that included 109 individuals monitored from birth up to recruitment into the breeding population. Overall, patterns of mate choice with regard to coloration were neither assortative nor disassortative. Natal dispersal distance was greater in females but was not associated with coloration

SUBMITTER: Gangoso L 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6562304 | biostudies-literature | 2019 May-Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature