Why renew fresh feathers? Advantages and conditions for the evolution of complete post‐juvenile moult

Abstract

Juveniles of several passerine species renew all of their fresh juvenile feathers immediately after fledging (complete post‐juvenile moult), in contrast to the majority, which perform a partial post‐juvenile moult. To understand the adaptive roles of this phenomenon we compared the quality of juvenile plumage in species that perform a complete post‐juvenile moult with that of species which perform a partial post‐juvenile moult; we similarly compared juveniles and adults in each of these groups. The quality of feathers was measured by mass of primaries, colour, and length. In species which perform a complete post‐juvenile moult the plumage quality of second‐year individuals, in their first breeding season, is similar to the plumage quality of adults, unlike those species that perform a partial post‐juvenile moult. In species which perform complete post‐juvenile moult, the quality of the feathers grown in the nest is lower than the quality of adult post‐breeding feathers. In contrast, in species which perform partial post‐juvenile moult the quality of the feathers grown in the nest is similar to that of adult post‐breeding feathers. We found that a complete post‐juvenile moult strategy is much more common 1) in residents and short‐distance migrants than in long‐distance migrants, 2) in southern latitudes, 3) in species with medium body mass and 4) in omnivores and granivores. Our results indicate two adaptive roles of the complete post‐juvenile moult strategy: 1) achieving high quality plumage in the first year which may increase individual survival probability and fitness and 2) allocating fewer resources to nestling plumage and more to nestling development, which enables the nestlings to leave the nest earlier, thus reducing the probability of encountering nest predators. We suggest that the complete post‐juvenile moult, immediately after fledging, is an optimal strategy in favourable habitats and under low time constraints, as in some tropical ecosystems.