Leucistic plumage as a result of progressive greying in a cryptic nocturnal bird

Leucism, broadly defined as the lack of melanin pigmentation, occurs in many animal species. Most studies on leucism and other colour aberrations are based on opportunistic observations or small cross-sectional samples, thus limiting our ability to produce reliable results and test theoretical predictions. This study combines cross-sectional and longitudinal data collected in 2016-2020 from a population of red-necked nightjars (Caprimulgus ruficollis). The goals of the study are (i) to investigate sex and age effects on partial leucism, (ii) to separate within-subject effects (progressive greying) from between-subject effects (selective disappearance), and (iii) to examine differences in body mass, structural size, and life span between leucistic and non-leucistic individuals. The probability of leucism in nightjars increased from juveniles to adults at similar rates in males and females. Our longitudinal analysis and life-span comparisons indicated a minor contribution of selective disappearance to age-related changes in leucism, but rather suggested that the loss of melanin from feathers can be attributed to progressive greying in ageing adults. Body mass and size were consistently smaller (5% and 1.5%, respectively) in leucistic than in non-leucistic nightjars, although the reason for this difference remains unclear. Our study sheds light on the sources and mechanisms of variation in leucism in natural populations and its relationship with important life-history traits, such as life span.

Body mass dynamics of migratory nightjars are explained by individual turnover and fueling

Body mass is a commonly used indicator of the energy stores of migratory animals and there is considerable evidence that it is a critical determinant of migration decisions and outcomes. Mean population mass often increases during the post-breeding period in most migratory species. Usually, this increase is interpreted as the result of fuel accumulation for migration based on the assumption that mean population mass mirrors mean individual mass. However, an empirical test of this assumption is lacking, and it is unknown whether the general increase in mean population mass is entirely the result of within-individual mass gain, or if it rather reflects a change in the nature of individuals in the population (mass-dependent turnover). We investigated changes in body mass during the post-fledging period of a migratory bird, the Red-necked Nightjar (Caprimulgus ruficollis), and combined longitudinal and cross-sectional data collected over 9 years to disentangle the relative contribution of individual-level (mass gain) and population-level (selective appearance and disappearance) processes. We found that the average body mass of fully-developed juveniles increased as the season progressed and that both individual mass gain and the selective disappearance of lighter individuals contributed to this increase. Contrary to the general expectations for migrants, the turnover of individuals contributed 3.5 times more to the seasonal increase in average body mass than individual mass gain. On a practical note, this differential contribution implied a discrepancy of over 40% between the time-average rates of mass gain (fuel deposition rates) estimated from population-level and individual-level data. Our study calls for caution in the use of population-level changes in body mass to make inferences about individual fuel deposition rates and, more generally, indicates that longitudinal and cross-sectional approaches need to be combined to uncover phenotype-time correlations in natural populations.

Correlates of individual variation in the porphyrin-based fluorescence of red-necked nightjars (Caprimulgus ruficollis)

Many nocturnal animals, including invertebrates such as scorpions and a variety of vertebrate species, including toadlets, flying squirrels, owls, and nightjars, emit bright fluorescence under ultraviolet light. However, the ecological significance of this unique coloration so attached to nocturnality remains obscure. Here, we used an intensively studied population of migratory red-necked nightjars (Caprimulgus ruficollis) to investigate inter-individual variation in porphyrin-based pink fluorescence according to sex, age, body condition, time of the year, and the extent of white plumage patches known to be involved in sexual communication. Males and females exhibited a similar extent of pink fluorescence on the under-side of the wings in both juvenile and adult birds, but males had larger white patches than females. Body condition predicted the extent of pink fluorescence in juvenile birds, but not in adults. On average, the extent of pink fluorescence in juveniles increased by ca. 20% for every 10-g increase in body mass. For both age classes, there was a slight seasonal increase (1–4% per week) in the amount of fluorescence. Our results suggest that the porphyrin-based coloration of nightjars might signal individual quality, at least in their first potential breeding season, although the ability of these and other nocturnal birds to perceive fluorescence remains to be unequivocally proven.