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| Do secondary sexual traits reflect cognitive ability in wild food-caching birds? |
| Laura Robayo Noguera, Tianconghui Wang, Matteo K. Pasquale, Carrie L. Branch. Western University, London, Ontario, Canada |
In seasonally variable environments, enhanced cognitive abilities may allow animals to adjust to changing conditions. Nonmigratory scatter-caching birds, like chickadees, rely on specialized spatial cognition for successful cache retrieval, a strategy used in times of low resource availability. Previous studies link spatial cognitive performance in chickadees to enhanced fitness, including survival and reproductive success, however it remains unknown whether females assess male cognitive ability via direct observation or secondary sexual traits. We investigated whether ariation in two secondary sexual traits of songbirds, song and plumage, serve as indicators of cognitive ability in black-capped chickadees (Poecile atricapillus). We brought 15 males into captivity to test their performance on three cognitive tasks, measured plumage reflectance for six body regions, and recorded their songs. Here I present findings on the association between cognitive performance, plumage reflectance, and song consistency, providing insights into the relationship between female mate choice, secondary sexual traits, and spatial cognition, a trait with known fitness consequences. |