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Sex differences in settlement behaviour and condition of chiffchaffs Phylloscopus collybita at a wintering site in Portugal. Are females doing better?

dc.contributor.authorCatry, Paulo
dc.contributor.authorBearhop, Stuart
dc.contributor.authorLecoq, Miguel
dc.date.accessioned2012-05-26T14:26:21Z
dc.date.available2012-05-26T14:26:21Z
dc.date.issued2007
dc.description.abstractIn passerine birds, males are generally larger and dominant over females. In line with the dominance theory, in all known differential migrant passerines, females migrate further than males. However, there are alternative explanations to the dominance hypothesis, including the specialisation hypothesis, predicting that females should do better than males in habitats and/or regions to which they are specially adapted, and where they predominate in numbers. Few studies have aimed at comparing the behaviour and condition of males and females wintering in locations largely dominated by female birds. We studied a partly nomadic species, the common chiffchaff Phylloscopus collybita, at a wintering site in Portugal. Most individuals caught at this site were transients. The only consistent and relatively powerful predictor of settlement behaviour was sex. Almost all the birds that settled in the study area were female, while there was an almost even sex ratio in the transient sample. Females had higher muscle and postjuvenile moult scores when first captured. In addition, there was a significant sex-based difference in mass trajectories, with females maintaining body mass and males losing body mass when settled at the study site. Results from this study suggest that the poor performance of males was either due to inferior male competitive ability in a region/habitat where females predominate and/or it resulted from the fact that males that reach these wintering grounds are of inferior individual quality.por
dc.identifier.citationJournal of Ornithology, 148, 241-249por
dc.identifier.issn2193-7192
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/10400.12/1423
dc.language.isoengpor
dc.peerreviewedyespor
dc.publisherSpringerpor
dc.subjectDifferential migrationpor
dc.subjectDominancepor
dc.subjectSexual segregationpor
dc.titleSex differences in settlement behaviour and condition of chiffchaffs Phylloscopus collybita at a wintering site in Portugal. Are females doing better?por
dc.typejournal article
dspace.entity.typePublication
oaire.citation.conferencePlaceHeidelbergpor
oaire.citation.endPage249por
oaire.citation.startPage241por
oaire.citation.titleJournal of Ornithologypor
rcaap.rightsrestrictedAccesspor
rcaap.typearticlepor

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