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Female birds disguised as males get extra food

Around 20% of female hummingbirds have plumage that is characteristic of the males of the species. Evidence for why this happens offers a surprising perspective on how evolution helps to maintain colour variations.
  1. Tim Caro

    1. Tim Caro is in the School of Biological Sciences, University of Bristol, Bristol BS8 1TQ, UK, and at the Center for Population Biology, University of California, Davis, USA.

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The breathtaking palette of colours seen in nature is the fuel that drives many of us to become biologists, and is the reason why some researchers try to understand the biological basis of animal and plant coloration1. Normally, the drivers of such evolutionary processes can be bracketed into categories that result in colour for protection, signalling or physiological reasons2. Writing in Proceedings of the Royal Society B, Falk et al.3 propose an evolutionary driver with a new twist.

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Nature 610, 259-260 (2022)

doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-022-03177-7

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Competing Interests

The author declares no competing interests.

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