Differential predation cost of a secondary sexual character: sparrowhawk predation on barn swallows

Models of reliable signalling assume that secondary sexual characters and other displays are more costly to individuals of low than high phenotypic quality, and that low quality individuals disproportionately compromise their reproduction and survival prospects by investment in signalling. A field study of barn swallows, Hirundo rustica with sexually exaggerated tail feathers, supported this prediction. Males were captured by sparrowhawks, Accipiter nisus more often than females, and captured males had shorter and more asymmetric tails than male barn swallows that were still alive at the end of the breeding season. These results suggest that there was a negative relationship between degree of sexual ornamentation and predation risk, consistent with the hypothesis that the secondary sexual character is a reliable indicator of quality.Copyright 1997 The Association for the Study of Animal Behaviour