Lynn

Lynn Siefferman, Ph.D.

Center for the Integrative Sudy of Animal Behavior at Indiana University.

Research

I am interested in reproductive behaviors, the evolution of sexually selected traits, life history evolution & animal coloration as well as applying tools from molecular biology, endocrinology, & immunology to questions in behavioral ecology and conservation biology.

Plumage signals and sexual selection in the eastern bluebird

A focus of my dissertation research (with Dr. Geoffrey Hill at Auburn University) concerned the function and evolution of plumage coloration in the eastern bluebird. Eastern bluebirds are a model system within which to investigate sexual selection and mate choice because they readily use nest boxes, breed repeatedly in the same location, and tolerate considerable disturbance at the nest. Eastern bluebirds are socially monogamous, with bi-parental care. Males assist in nest defense, and feeding nestlings and fledglings. Eastern bluebirds have two types of ornamental coloration: a brilliant blue head, back, and wings and a rusty breast patch. The UV-blue plumage is structurally-based while the rusty breast patch is combination of phaeo- and eu- melanins.

Several lines of evidence suggest that structural plumage of male eastern bluebirds is an important sexually-selected signal. First, experiments designed to increase male-male competition show that males with more ornamented UV-blue plumage are better able to secure nest boxes, and limiting resource for cavity nesting species (Siefferman & Hill 2005a). Second, field correlations show that male eastern bluebirds that are more ornamented find mates earlier in the season, provision offspring more often, and produce larger offspring than less ornamented males (Siefferman & Hill 2003). Third, males that display brighter UV-blue plumage tend to be both older and in better body condition than duller males (Siefferman et al. 2005). Fourth, brood size manipulations, used to increase parental investment, cause males to become duller in the next breeding season (Siefferman & Hill 2005b). However, there is no evidence that females prefer to mate with bluer males (Liu, Siefferman, & Hill, in press

Female coloration in eastern bluebirds

Females show a subdued expression of blue and chestnut ornamental coloration.

Geoff Hill and I used a combination of an aviary nutritional-stress experiment and field data to test the hypothesis that female ornamentation functions as a signal of quality. First, we tested whether structural and melanin plumages are condition dependent by placing females under two different feeding regimes during molt. Females who were given ad libitum access to food displayed more ornamented structural coloration than females on a food-restricted diet, but there was no effect of the experiment on melanin ornamentation. Second, we used field data to assess whether individuals paired according to ornamentation and whether female ornamentation correlated with measures of mate quality and parental effort. Our observations indicated that males and females pair assortatively by age and by structural plumage coloration. Furthermore, structural plumage ornamentation, age, and body condition predicted first egg date and nestling condition. These data indicate that structural coloration is dependent on nutritional condition and suggest that sexual selection is acting on structurally-based plumage ornamentation in female eastern bluebirds (Siefferman and Hill 2005c).

The biliverdin coloration of eggshells

A recent hypothesis by Moreno and Osorno argues that egg color may function as a post-mating sexually selected signal of the laying females’ phenotypic quality to their mates to induce higher allocation of parental care. This hypothesis is based on the antioxidant properties of the blue-green pigment biliverdin. Dr. Kristen Navara (Ohio State University), and I tested this hypothesis using eastern bluebirds, we found that females in better body condition and older females produce more colorful eggs than females in poorer body condition and younger females (Siefferman et al. 2006). With Chris Rhodes of Syracuse University, we found that female house finches (Carpodacus Mexicans) mated to less attractive males produce more colorful eggs. With eastern bluebirds, I tested whether egg coloration facilitates recognifition of conspecific broods parasitic eggs, I found no support for this hypothesis (Siefferman, in press).

Behavioral ecology of Blue-tailed Bee-eaters (Merops philippinus)

I am currently examining factors related to plumage coloration, cooperative breeding, extra-pair copulation, intra-specific brood parasitism and colony membership dynamics in a population of Blue-tailed bee-eaters on Kinmen Island, Taiwan. This research is in collaboration with, and Dr. Hsiao-Wei Yuan, Yuan-Jyun Wang and Yi-Ping Wang from Taiwan National University.

Resolving cryptic biodiversity and defining species boundaries in the phenotypically plastic freshwater mussel genus Elliptio from Gulf of Mexico river drainages.

E. arctata

Freshwater mussels (Bivalvia: Unionoida) are perhaps the most imperiled group of freshwater invertebrates in the world. Rivers of southeastern North America support diverse mussel assemblages, including more than 2/3 of the continent’s unionid species. Unfortunately many species are difficult to recognize using shell characteristics. With Drs. Mike Gangloff and Ken Halanych (Auburn University), I am using molecular and nuclear DNA to resolve species boundaries within Elliptio.

Publications

1. Siefferman, L. & G. E. Hill. 2003. Structural and melanin coloration indicate parental effort and reproductive success in male eastern bluebirds (Sialia Sialis). Behavioral Ecology 14:855-861.
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2. Shawkey, M. D., A. M. Estes, L. M. Siefferman, & G. E. Hill. 2003. Nanostructure predicts intraspecific variation in structural plumage colour. Proceedings of the Royal Society of London Series B 270:1455-1460.
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3. McGraw, K. J., K. Wakamatsu, S. Ito, P. M. Nolan, P. Jouventin, F. S. Dobson, R. E. Austic, R. J. Safran, L. Siefferman, G. E. Hill, & R. S. Parker. 2004. You can’t always judge a plumage pigment by its color: carotenoid and melanin content of yellow- and brown-colored feathers in swallows, bluebirds, penguins, and domestic chicks. Condor 106:390-395.
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4. Robinson, T. J., Siefferman, L. & T. S. Risch. 2004. A quick, inexpensive trap for use with nest boxes. North American Bird Bander 29:116-117.
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5. Siefferman, L. & G. E. Hill. 2005. UV-blue structural coloration and competition for nest boxes in male eastern bluebirds (Sialia sialis). Animal Behaviour 69:67-72.
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6. Shawkey, M.D., A.M. Estes, L. Siefferman, & G.E. Hill. 2005. Anatomical basis of sexual dichromatism in non-iridescent ultraviolet-blue structural coloration of feathers. Biological Journal of the Linnean Society 84:259-271.
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7. Siefferman, L. & G. E Hill. 2005. Male eastern bluebirds trade future ornamentation for current parental investment. Biology Letters 1:208-211.
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8. Keyser, A. & L. Siefferman 2005. Viability selection against highly ornamented males. Evolutionary Ecology Research 7:595-606.
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9. Siefferman, L., G. E. Hill & F. S. Dobson. 2005. Ornamental plumage coloration and condition are dependent on age in eastern bluebirds. Journal of Avian Biology 36:428-435.
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10. Siefferman, L. & G. E. Hill. 2005. Evidence for sexual selection on structural plumage coloration in female eastern bluebirds. Evolution 59:1819-1828.
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11. Siefferman, L. & G. E. Hill. 2005. Blue structural coloration predicts incubation provisioning in eastern bluebirds. Journal of Avian Biology 36:488-493.
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12. Siefferman, L., K. J. Navara & G. E. Hill. 2006. Egg coloration is correlated with female condition in eastern bluebirds. Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology 59:651-656.
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13. Shawkey, M. D., S. L. Balanger, , G. E. Hill, L. S. Johnson, A. J. Keyser & L. Siefferman. 2006. Mechanisms of evolutionary change in structural plumage coloration among bluebirds (Sialia spp.) Journal of the Royal Society Interface, 3:527-532.
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14. Navara, K. J., L. Siefferman, G. E. Hill, & M. T. Mendonça. 2006. Yolk androgens vary independently of maternal androgens in eastern bluebirds: an experimental study. Functional Ecology, 20:449-456.
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15. Siefferman, L. 2006. Egg coloration and recognition of conspecific brood parasitism in Eastern Bluebirds. Ethology, 112:833-838.
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16. Shawkey, M. D., G. E. Hill, L. Siefferman & S. Roberts. 2006. Bacteria as an agent for change in structural plumage color: correlational and experimental evidence. American Naturalist, in press.

17. Liu, M., Siefferman, L. & G. E. Hill. 2006. No evidence for female mate choice for structural plumage coloration in eastern bluebirds. Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology, in press.

Manuscripts in review:

Siefferman, L., M. D. Shawkey, R. Bowman, & G. E. Woolfenden. Florida scrub-jays (Aphelocoma coerulescens) are sexually
dichromatic: implications for sexual selection

Siefferman, L. & G. E. Hill. Sex-specific costs of reproduction in the eastern bluebird.

Wang, Y. P., L. Siefferman, Y.-J. Wang, T.-S. Ding, H.-W. Yuan. Effects of breeding colony site restoration of blue-tailed bee-eaters.

Siefferman, L., Y.-J. Wang, Y. P. Wang & H.-W. Yuan. Sexual dichromatism, dimorphism, and condition-dependent coloration in Blue-tailed bee-eaters (Merops philippinus).

Boback, S. M. & L. Siefferman. Color and color change in island and mainland boas (Boa constrictor) from Belize.

Siefferman, L. & G. E. Hill. Experimental manipulation of natal environment affects the blue structural coloration eastern bluebirds.

Siefferman, L., C. J. Rhodes, & G. E. Hill. Female house finches mated to more attractive males lay less colorful and smaller eggs.

Education

Indiana University NIH Postdoctoral fellow

Auburn University Ph.D. Biological Sciences 2005

Indiana University B.S. Biology 1995, B.A. Anthropology 1995

Last Update: February, 2006