Control of sex differences in the plumage of the house sparrow, Passer domesticus

Abstract

AbstractIn an experimental study of sexual dimorphism in plumage coloration in the house sparrow, Passer domesticus, skin grafts were exchanged between nestlings on the first to sixth day after hatching. Before fledging, the young birds were moved from the nest to cages and kept for several weeks for observation of the coloration of feathers produced by host and graft skin. The adult feathers that developed on grafted skin at the postjuvenal molt corresponded to those of the donor, regardless of the sex of the host.