Extensive variation in feather ornaments of Whiskered Auklets in the Aleutian Islands reflects age, sex, condition, and geography

Abstract

Abstract Both sexes of Whiskered Auklets (Aethia pygmaea) display the most elaborate feather ornaments of any seabird: a slender black forehead crest, and 3 bilaterally symmetrical pairs of white facial plumes (superorbital, suborbital, and auricular). We studied patterns of ornament variation in 796 banded individuals (147 of known sex, 254 of known age from 1 to 16 years) during 1992–2009 at Buldir Island (principally), and 3 other Aleutian Islands (Davidof, Ulak, and Egg) in Alaska, USA. As expected for socially selected traits, ornaments were more variable across individuals than anatomical traits in size but with only slightly male-biased sexual dimorphism. Body condition index increased from age 1 to 3 years but changed little thereafter. Even within birds ≥4 years old, ornament size was positively related to body condition index. Subadults (one-year-olds) had smaller ornaments than adults (age 2–16 years) but there was no further change in ornament size as adults aged and no evidence of senescence even in the oldest birds (>8 years old). Nonetheless, overall ornament size varied from year-to-year at Buldir and was correlated with indices of both ocean climate and auklet productivity in the preceding 2–5 years. From Buldir to Egg Island (1,266 km), the size of both anatomical and ornamental traits increased by 5–15% except for bill depth, which was largest in birds from Buldir and Egg at opposite ends of the Aleutian breeding range. This study is one of few to examine patterns of ornament variation in a long-lived, socially monogamous bird, even though such patterns are crucial to understanding the relationship between sexual selection and life history.