Female ornamentation is correlated with weather conditions during molt in Protonotaria citrea (Prothonotary Warblers): A 13-year study

Avian species have inspired numerous studies on ornamentation, exploring its role in intra- and intersexual selection as a marker for individual quality. Male birds have been the focus of most studies of plumage coloration, even though females can also display ornamentation. Coloration added to feathers during their growth, particularly carotenoid-based pigments, is derived from food resources. As weather patterns affect food availability and abundance, there may be a link between weather conditions during molt and feather coloration in the subsequent breeding season. We collected 474 breast feather samples from 329 unique female Protonotaria citrea (Prothonotary Warbler) and 436 crown feather samples from 310 females across 13 years (2010-2023) in eastern Virginia, USA, to assess relationships between temperature and precipitation during molt and breast and crown feather reflectance metrics the following year. We considered conditions in both the breeding and nonbreeding seasons as pos..., , # Female ornamentation is correlated with weather conditions during molt in Protonotaria citrea (Prothonotary Warblers): A 13-year study

Dataset DOI: [10.5061/dryad.3xsj3txtc](10.5061/dryad.3xsj3txtc)

## Description of the data and file structure

This data includes 474 breast feather samples from 329 unique female Protonotaria citrea (Prothonotary Warbler) and 436 crown feather samples from 310 females across 13 years (2010-2023) in eastern Virginia, USA to assess relationships between temperature and precipitation during molt and breast and crown feather reflectance metrics the following year. Feathers were mounted on black cardstock then measured with an Ocean Optics JazPX spectrometer with a DET2B-UV detector (Ocean Optics, Dunedin, Florida, USA) sensitive to light in the 300–800 nm range, for both the visible (400–750 nm) and UV (320–400 nm) spectra. Weather data was determined from the Richmond International Airport, Virginia, USA and NOAA STAR mean vegetation condition index.

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