Sexual dimorphic colours and female choice in the common kestrel

Figures & data

Figure 1 Reflectance spectra of male head before(lighter lines) and after (darker lines) the treatment. Colouring increased the reflectance along all the light spectrum (a) whereas the water treatment did not change the plumage reflectance (b).

Figure 2 Top view of the mate choice apparatus. The female was placed in the central aviary and one male on each side. The dotted lines indicate the net of the wall through which females could watch males.

Table I. The time spent by each female perching in front of either male during each 10‐min sub‐period of the test. Only the duration of perching is considered, as the data concerning the other activities were very poor. + : the female spent more time in front of the coloured male; − : the female spent more time in front of the control male.

Female	Sub‐periods (min)
	0–10	10–20	20–30	30–40
1	+	+	+	+
2	+	+	+	+
3	−	−	−	+
4	−	+	+	+
5	−	+	−	−
6	+	+	+	+
7	−	−	−	−
8	−	−	−	−
9	+	+	+	−
10	+	+	+	+
11	+	−	−	−
12	−	−	−	−
13	−	+	+	+