Within-individual variation in sexual displays: signal or noise?

Abstract

Male sexual displays are variable within individuals, but we know very little about how this variation in signal production affects animal communication. Within-individual variation does not appear to signal male quality as a potential mate and may simply obscure mean male trait values. Female treefrogs nevertheless prefer males who produce consistent signals of male quality but may not be able to express this preference in dense breeding aggregations, which produce high levels of chorus noise.