Eggshell coloration in bird clutches shows a striking variability within species which has not yet been fully explained. Its character is determined by the deposition of two main pigments: blue-green biliverdin is responsible for the background colour while brown-red protoporphyrin is associated with the dark spot pattern. Considering the role and matabolism of these two pigments in the avian organism it was suggested that they might have an important impact on the oxidative stress levels and their deposition into the eggshell is therefore suggested to possibly reflect the body condition of laying females during the laying periods. This is also the basic assumption for the signalling hypothesis of eggshell coloration which predicts the eggshell appearance to reflect the female body condition and individual health status or directly indicate aenemia in birds (aenemic hypothesis). Here it was tested whether there is a relationship between parameters representing the body condition of female great tits (Parus major) and the characteristics of protoporphyrin maculation of their eggs. Female body condition was expressed by standardized body weight and the selected haematological parameters (heterophil to lymphocyte ratio and relative immature erythrocyte counts). Eggshell coloration was characterized by spot colour (hue, saturation and brightness), spot counts and the reflectance of the background colour. It was found that females with higher heterophil to lymphocyte ratio laid eggs with more spots and higher reflectance of the background colour in some nesting seasons. Eggs with more spots on its surface were also laid by females with higher immature erythrocyte counts. These results suggest that more intensive deposition of protoporfyring into the eggsell can indicate worse body condition of the laying females. On the other hand, it was also found that heavier females laid eggs with lower reflectance of the background colour. Despite this discrepancy, these results are not inconsistent with the pressumptions of the signalling hypothesis and they partially support the aenemia hypothesis. However, the above mentioned dependencies were inconsistent among the nesting seasons, indicating that further important determinants must be considered in the avian eggshell coloration.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:nusl.cz/oai:invenio.nusl.cz:263082 |
| Date | January 2017 |
| Creators | Kratochvílová, Anna |
| Contributors | Svobodová, Jana, Veronika, Veronika |
| Publisher | Česká zemědělská univerzita v Praze |
| Source Sets | Czech ETDs |
| Language | Czech |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | info:eu-repo/semantics/masterThesis |
| Rights | info:eu-repo/semantics/restrictedAccess |
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