Abstract
More ornamented individuals are supposed to signal their superior quality and health, however the development of larger ornaments or brighter plumages can affect their survival probabilities. The survival of male serins Serinus serinus in relation to the color characteristics of carotenoid‐derived breast coloration was analyzed in a six‐year capture–recapture study in northeastern Spain. A total of 210 males were individually marked generating 340 captures, between 1997 and 2003. The model with the best fit indicated a quadratic relationship between brightness of carotenoid‐derived coloration and survival, independent of time and age of the birds, so that individuals with intermediate plumage brightness survived longer. Hence, results stress that plumage color in male serins is under stabilizing natural selection, with reduced survival both in drabber and brighter individuals. While lower condition of drabber individuals can explain their lower survival, brighter birds can suffer more from predation risk or from a higher investment of resources into mate attraction and/or reproduction.
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