Nest decoration:Black feathers prevent Crested Mynas from nest usurpation  

作　　者：Jinmei Liu Wei Liang 

机构地区：[1]Ministry of Education Key Laboratory for Ecology of Tropical Islands,Key Laboratory of Tropical Animal and Plant Ecology of Hainan Province,College of Life Sciences,Hainan Normal University,Haikou,571158,China

出　　处：《Avian Research》2024年第2期292-297,共6页鸟类学研究（英文版）

基　　金：supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China(No.31970427 and 32270526 granted to W.L.).

摘　　要：Nests are important structures for birds to raise their offspring and for signaling.Many birds incorporate feathers into the nest,since feathers were traditionally thought to serve the function of insulation.Hypotheses in recent years have considered that some birds place feathers in conspicuous locations in the nest for decoration to trigger a fear response in the competitors.In this study,we investigated whether decorative feathers could deter nest usurpation by Crested Mynas(Acridotheres cristatellus)by manipulating nest box contents.The results revealed that Crested Mynas preferred black feathers to white feathers as decorations and occupied nest boxes decorated with black feathers significantly less than those decorated with white feathers,suggesting that black decorative feathers in the nest could be more effective in preventing nest usurpation by Crested Mynas and that white decorative feathers may have other functions.The black feathers in the nest are prominently placed at the edge of the nest to convey the message that“this nest is occupied”or“the owner of this nest has been preyed upon”to visitor Crested Mynas,thus effectively preventing them from usurping the nest at a later stage.

关 键 词：Extended phenotype FEATHERS Nest decoration Nest usurpation 

分 类 号：Q958[生物学—动物学]