| Titre : | Sexual dimorphism in size and plumage in adult Curlew Sandpipers (Calidris ferruginea) migrating in autumn through the Baltic Sea region (2020) |
| Auteurs : | Marta Witkowska, Auteur ; Wlodzimierz Meissner, Auteur |
| Type de document : | Article |
| Dans : | Ornis Fennica (97(4) December, 2020) |
| Article en page(s) : | 186-199 |
| Résumé : | The Curlew Sandpiper (Calidris ferruginea) displays sexual dimorphism in size and in breeding plumage. We analysed biometric and plumage characteristics in adult Curlew Sandpipers and proposed a protocol for sexing individuals, with the use of the discriminant function analysis. We measured 222 females and 164 males captured during autumn migration on the southern Baltic coast, among which 92 females and 84 males were photographed for analysis of plumage characteristics. All birds were sexed with molecular methods, Females were larger than males in all body measurements. Bill length was the most dimorphic trait, and the most effective function with bill length as a single predictor correctly identified the sex of 82.1% of birds. A similar function was described by Wymenga et al. 1990, yet there is an ambiguity in the description of those methods. The effectiveness of the previously published discriminant function was lower compared to the discriminant functions obtained in this study. Males were more rufous and less barred on breast and underparts than females. Yet the relationship between these two traits was weak as 62.7% of females and 89.5% of males were found in an overlapping zone. Moreover, we found that some individuals showed plumage features that were typical for the opposite sex, This indicates that sexing of adult Curlew Sandpipers based on their plumage characteristics is less reliable than with the use of discriminant functions. Discriminant functions not only allows for sexing birds throughout the annual cycle (including periods when both sexes are indistinguishable based on plumage traits), hut also can be applied to archival data of birds measured in the past. |
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