Related Experiment Video
Updated: Aug 5, 2026

Probing the Limits of Egg Recognition Using Egg Rejection Experiments Along Phenotypic Gradients
Published on: August 22, 2018
Differences in color vision make passerines less conspicuous in the eyes of their predators
Olle Håstad1, Jonas Victorsson, Anders Odeen
1Department of Animal Ecology, Evolutionary Biology Centre, Uppsala University, Norbyvägen 18D, S-752 36 Uppsala, Sweden.
Abstract:
Sexual selection often favors brighter and exaggerated traits, which also increase the risk of detection by predators. Signals that are preferentially conspicuous to conspecifics would reduce the predation cost of signaling and, therefore, might facilitate the evolution of stronger sexual and social signals. This selective signaling is possible if predators and prey have differently tuned sensory systems. By using a retinal model to compare reflectance from the plumages of Swedish songbirds to the reflectance of their natural backgrounds, we found their color badges to be significantly more conspicuous to other songbirds (which have a UV-tuned visual system) than to raptors and corvids (which have a violet-tuned system) in both coniferous and deciduous forests, consistent with an adaptive private communication system.
Related Concept Videos
Vision
Mate Choice
Frequency-dependent Selection
Anatomy of the Eyeball
Photoreceptors and Visual Pathways
Color Vision

