@article{MolineroAylagas:96489,
author = "Molinero Aylagas, Sara and Martínez Padilla, Jesús",
title = "{Dinámica temporal de la expresión de caracteres
sexuales secundarios en hembras de Papamoscas cerrojillo
(Ficedula hypoleuca)}",
year = "2020",
note = "This study is about the Pied flycatcher (Ficedula
hypoleuca). It is a bird of about 12cm in length and weighs
about 13 g, it spends summers in North Africa and Europe
and winters in Africa (it is a migratory bird). It has a
white spot on the forehead distinctive of the species,
which in males is considered as a sexual character, but in
females its functionality is unknown. This study was
carried out from 1993 to 2017 in La Hiruela (Madrid) in two
different habitats separated 1.1 km respectively, and it
aims to find a temporal pattern of the white spot
expression in female Pied flycatchers in the last 30 years.
The results obtained suggest a negative quadratic pattern
in which the female's spot decreases from 1993 to 2009 but
then grows again from 2009 to 2017. These results could be
explained by differences in population density and perhaps
by population structure. Over the last few years, the
density of breeding pairs has increased, creating a more
competitive environment in which only the females with the
largest spot are the most competitive and manage to breed
in nest boxes. Immigration-emigration rates or the age
structure in the population could be possible explanatory
mechanisms of the results. Alternative hypotheses such as
phenotypic plasticity are also potential candidates.",
}