Cw. Thompson et M. Leu, MOLTS AND PLUMAGES OF ORANGE-BREASTED BUNTINGS (PASSERINA-LECLANCHERII) - IMPLICATIONS FOR THEORIES OF DELAYED PLUMAGE MATURATION, The Auk, 112(1), 1995, pp. 1-19
We document the sequence of molts and plumages in Orange-breasted Bunt
ings (Passerina lechlancherii), a nonmigratory passerine that is endem
ic to southwestern Mexico, and discuss implications of our results for
theories of male and female delayed plumage maturation. This species
has the same sequence of molts and plumages as all five other species
of Passerina. However, in subadult (predefinitively plumaged) males an
d females, the intensity and extent of molts, as well as the plumage c
olor (definitive malelike versus definitive femalelike) resulting from
these molts, differ in many respects from other Passerina. The most s
ignificant difference is that female Orange-breasted Buntings exhibit
delayed plumage maturation. For males and females, our results strongl
y support winter- and summer-status-signaling hypotheses for the evolu
tion of delayed plumage maturation, and are inconsistent with winter-
and summer-cryptic hypotheses, the female-mimicry hypothesis and the j
uvenile-mimicry hypothesis.