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

• Published in: Ornithology
• Main Authors: Ian L. Jones, Fiona M. Hunter, Sampath S. Seneviratne, Jeffrey C. Williams, Robert Montgomerie
• Format: Text
• Language: English
• Published: American Ornithological Society 2022
• Subjects: Aleutian; Aleutianas; ave marina; feather ornaments; ornamentos de plumas; selección social; Buldir Island; Egg Island; Alaska; Aleutian Islands
• Online Access: https://doi.org/10.1093/ornithology/ukab082

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...