Interspecific covariation in courtship displays, iridescent plumage, solar orientation, and their interactions in hummingbirds

Many animals communicate using multiple signals. Historically, most attention was paid to how these traits evolve and function in isolation, but recent work has focused on how signals may interact with one another and produce unique signal interaction properties. These interaction properties vary within species, but little is known about how they vary among species, especially with regards to how the expression of particular signals may drive different signal interaction mechanisms. We studied the evolutionary relationships between iridescent plumage, courtship (shuttle) displays, solar environment, and male color appearance during a display (i.e. the signal interaction property) among six species of North American “bee” hummingbirds. We found that color appearances co-vary with behavioral and plumage properties, which themselves negatively co-vary, such that species with more exaggerated displays appeared flashier during courtship, while species with more exaggerated plumage appeared ...