DOI: 10.5061/dryad.1g1jwsv8g
title: Data from: North American barn swallows pair, mate, and interact assortatively

description: While female mate choice is well established, mutual choice may play a
 larger role in mate selection than currently recognized. Assortative
 mating is a common form of non-random mating in animals that can result
 from mutual choice. However, few studies address assortative patterns
 beyond the social pair, potentially overlooking assortativity in the
 mating pair and in the social environment that shapes reproductive
 decisions. We asked whether North American barn swallows (Hirundo rustica
 erythrogaster) breeding in a large colony form pairs, mate (through both
 within-pair and extra-pair fertilizations), and interact assortatively by
 ventral plumage color, wing length, and age. Social interactions were
 tracked using proximity loggers, which recorded close contact between
 tagged individuals when birds were mating and laying eggs. Barn swallows
 paired and mated assortatively by their ventral plumage color; however,
 the assortative patterns in mating pairs were not as strong as they were
 in social pairs. Barn swallows also interacted assortatively, associating
 more often with individuals of both sexes who had similar phenotypes
 relative to the other birds in the colony. Finally, older males and
 females with darker ventral plumage achieved the highest reproductive
 success. Investigation of assortative behavior beyond the level of the
 social pair provides a more complete understanding of mate choice and
 suggests a mechanism that may maintain the large variation in ventral
 plumage color in North American barn swallows.
description: # Data from: North American barn swallows pair, mate, and interact
 assortatively Dataset DOI:
 [10.5061/dryad.1g1jwsv8g](10.5061/dryad.1g1jwsv8g) ## Description of the
 data and file structure This dataset contains pairing, mating, and social
 interaction data for Morosse et al. 2025 Behavioral Ecology, a study on
 assortative behavior in North American barn swallows. In all cases, NA
 means there is missing data. 2022 3d edgelist MF.csv: Edgelist of
 male-female social interactions 2022 3d edgelist updated 10_30_23.csv:
 Edgelist of all social interactions FemaleWPEPcolorcompariso 08_07_24.csv:
 Datafile for comparing male plumage color between a female's social
 and extra-pair (EP) mates OH Dulog 2022 6_7_24 pruned.csv: Attribute file
 for birds in social network OH Dulog 2022 6_11_24 pruned for MF.csv:
 Attribute file for birds in the male-female social network SG color long
 7_18_24.csv: Long format plumage color data for density plots SGMatingairs
 08_07_24 final.csv: Mating pairs for mating assortativity analyses
 SGSocialPairs 7_7_24 for RS final.csv: Social pairs that have full
 reproductive success information SGSocialPairs 8_5_24 final.csv: Social
 pairs for assortativity analyses WPEPcolorcomparison 06_10_24.csv: Data
 file for comparing plumage color between birds who sired only within-pair
 (WP) young and those that sired extra-pair (EP) young. Morosse et al 2025
 Behav Ecol code.R: R code for data analysis ### Files and variables ####
 File: 2022\_3d\_edgelist\_MF.csv ##### Variables * Female: Dulog tag ID *
 Male: Dulog tag ID * num_interactions: Number of social interactions ####
 File: 2022\_3d\_edgelist\_updated\_10\_30\_23.csv ##### Variables *
 from_node: Dulog tag ID * to_node: Dulog tag ID * num_interactions: Number
 of social interactions #### File:
 FemaleWPEPcolorcomparison\_08\_07\_24.csv ##### Variables * MaleID: Band
 number for male * PairID:  Band number for female * EPID: Band number for
 extra-pair (EP) sire * PairB_bright: Belly brightness for social male *
 PairR_bright: Breast brightness for social male * EPB_bright: Belly
 brightness for EP male * EPR_bright: Breast brightness for EP male ####
 File: OH\_Dulog\_2022\_6\_7\_24\_pruned.csv ##### Variables * tag: Dulog
 tag ID * band_id: Band ID * sex: Sex * age_cat: Categorical age: SY =
 second year, ASY = After second year * pair_tag: Social pair's Dulog
 tag * pair_id: Social pair's band ID * avg_rwl: Right wing length
 (mm) * B_avg.bright: Belly brightness (brightness is an achromatic,
 unitless measurement of reflectance) * R_avg.bright: Breast brightness *
 T_avg.bright: Throat brightness * V_avg.bright: Vent brightness #### File:
 OH\_Dulog\_2022\_6\_11\_24\_pruned\_for\_MF.csv ##### Variables *
 tag: Dulog tag ID * band_id: Band ID * sex: Sex * age_cat: Categorical
 age: SY = second year, ASY = After second year * pair_tag: Social
 pair's Dulog tag * pair_id: Social pair's band ID *
 avg_rwl: Right wing length (mm) * B_avg.bright: Belly
 brightness (brightness is an achromatic, unitless measurement of
 reflectance) * R_avg.bright: Breast brightness * T_avg.bright: Throat
 brightness * V_avg.bright: Vent brightness #### File:
 SG\_color\_long\_7\_18\_24.csv ##### Variables * Band: Band ID * Sex: Sex
 * B_avg.bright: Belly brightness (brightness is an achromatic, unitless
 measurement of reflectance) * R_avg.bright: Breast brightness #### File:
 SGMatingPairs\_08\_07\_24\_final.csv ##### Variables * MBand ID: Male band
 ID * EP: Was there extra-pair (EP) mating in this pair *
 MSocIntFreq: Social interaction frequency * MSocIntDur: Social interactin
 duration (seconds) * MAge category: Male age category * MSocial mate
 band: Band ID of social mate * MMean wing: Male right wing length (mm) *
 MB_avg.bright: Male belly brightness (brightness is an achromatic,
 unitless measurement of reflectance) * MR_avg.bright: Male breast
 brightness * MT_avg.bright: Male throat brightness * MV_avg.bright: Male
 vent brightness * FBand ID: Female band ID * FSocIntFreq: Social
 interaction frequency * FSocIntDur: Social interaction duration (seconds)
 * FAge category: Female age category * FSocial mate band: Band ID of
 social mate * FMean wing: Right wing length (mm) * FB_avg.bright: Female
 belly brightness * FR_avg.bright: Female breast brightness *
 FT_avg.bright: Female throat brightness * FV_avg.bright: Female vent
 brightness #### File: SGSocialPairs\_7\_7\_24\_for\_RS\_final.csv #####
 Variables * MBAND ID: Male band ID * FBAND ID: Female band ID * CI: Clutch
 initiation date (julian date) * No.WP: Number of within-pair offspring *
 No. Male.EP: Number of EP offspring of the male * No.Off.Male: Total
 number of offspring for the male * No.Female.EP: Number of extra-pair (EP)
 offspring of the female * No.Off.Female: Total number of offspring for the
 female * PairEP: Whether the pair had EP offspring * MB_avg.bright: Male
 belly brightness (brightness is an achromatic, unitless measurement of
 reflectance) * MR_avg.bright: Male breast brightness * MT_avg.bright: Male
 throat brightness * MV_avg.bright: Male vent brightness * MAGE: Male
 categorical age * MAVG RWL: Right wing length (mm) for the male *
 FB_avg.bright: Female belly brightness * FR_avg.bright: Female breast
 brightness * FT_avg.bright: Female throat brightness *
 FV_avg.bright: Female vent brightness * FAGE: Female categorical age *
 FAVG RWL: Right wing length (mm) for the female #### File:
 WPEPcolorcomparison\_06\_10\_24.csv ##### Variables * FEMALEID: Female
 band ID * PAIRID: Social mate band ID * PAIRB_avg.bright: Social mate
 belly brightness (brightness is an achromatic, unitless measurement of
 reflectance) * PAIRR_avg.bright: Social mate breast brightness *
 PAIRT_avg.bright: Social mate throat brightness * PAIRV_avg.bright: Social
 mate vent brightness * EPID: EP mate band ID * EPB_avg.bright: Extra-pair
 (EP) mate belly brightness * EPR_avg.bright: EP mate breast brightness *
 EPT_avg.bright: EP mate throat brightness * EPV_avg.bright: EP mate vent
 brightness #### File: SGSocialPairs\_8\_5\_24\_final.csv ##### Variables *
 MBAND ID: Male band ID * FBAND ID: Female band ID * MB_avg.bright: Male
 belly brightness (brightness is an achromatic, unitless measurement of
 reflectance) * MR_avg.bright: Male breast brightness * MT_avg.bright: Male
 throat brightness * MV_avg.bright: Male vent brightness * MAGE: Male
 categorical age: SY = second year, ASY = After second year * MAVG RWL:
 Male right wing length (mm) * FB_avg.bright: Female belly brightness *
 FR_avg.bright: Female breast brightness * FT_avg.bright: Female throat
 brightness * FV_avg.bright: Female vent brightness * FAGE: Female
 categorical age: SY = second year, ASY = After second year * FAVG RWL:
 Female right wing length (mm) ##