Silver spoon effects on plumage quality in a passerine bird

A silver spoon effect means that individuals who develop under favourable circumstances enjoy a fitness or performance advantage later in life. While there is large empirical support for silver spoon effects acting on different life-history traits in birds, such as survival and reproduction, the evidence for the carry-over effects of rearing conditions on the quality of future plumage generations is lacking. Here, we examined whether abilities of individuals to undergo extensive post-juvenile moult may depend on the quality of juvenile plumage developed during the nestling phase in a small passerine showing large individual variation in the extent of post-juvenile moult, the greenfinch (Carduelis chloris). We found that high structural quality and carotenoid chroma of juvenile feathers were positively linked to the extent of post-juvenile moult in this species, thus allowing young birds to attain more adult-like plumage. Silver spoon effects mediated by the juvenile plumage quality were also found to have other fitness-related consequences, as individuals with high-quality juvenile feathers were in better condition during their first winter. As far as we are aware, the results provide the first correlative evidence for a silver spoon effect acting on general plumage quality in birds.