Data and code for: Plumage balances camouflage and thermoregulation in Horned Larks (Eremophila alpestris)

Animal coloration serves many biological functions and must therefore balance potentially competing selective pressures. For example, many animals have camouflage in which coloration matches the visual background that predators scan for prey. However, different colors reflect different amounts of solar radiation and may therefore have thermoregulatory implications as well. In this study, we examined geographic variation in dorsal patterning, coloration, and solar reflectance among Horned Larks (Eremophila alpestris) of the western United States. We found that plumage brightness was positively associated with soil granularity, aridity, and temperature. Plumage redness—both in terms of saturation (i.e., chroma) and hue—was positively associated with soil redness and temperature, while plumage patterning was positively associated with soil granularity. Together, these plumage-environment associations support both background matching and Gloger’s Rule, a widespread ecogeographic pattern in ..., This Dryad repository includes various data types and code to execute analyses associated with the manuscript titled \"Plumage balances camouflage and thermoregulation in Horned Larks (Eremophila alpestris).\", The scripts included in this Dryad repository are to be run with R and Python.Â