DOI: 10.5061/dryad.3xsj3txtc
title: Data from: Female ornamentation is correlated with weather conditions during molt in Protonotaria citrea (Prothonotary Warblers): A 13-year study

description: 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 possible
 drivers of crown reflectance because at least some feathers are replaced
 during a previously undescribed limited prealternate molt. Breast and
 crown violet-blue chroma was lower, and breast yellow intensity was higher
 following cooler and wetter conditions during the late summer molt and not
 the winter prealternate molt. The negative impact of warmer temperatures
 on breast yellow intensity was greater in younger females. These results
 provide insight into how climate conditions affect female plumage
 coloration, which has previously been linked to reproductive success, and
 may aid in understanding the impacts of climate change on carotenoids as
 honest signals of individual condition.
description: # 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. ### Files and variables
 #### File: breast_feathers.csv **Description:** Contains morphological
 data for individual female birds including feather reflectance values for
 breast feathers, age, sex, etc. Also contains temperature and
 precipitation values for central Virginia, USA. Missing values are
 indicated by "NA." ##### Variables * BandNumber: The ID of the
 sampled individual * B2: Feather reflectance metric corresponding to
 "mean brightness." * S1U: Feather reflectance metric
 corresponding to "ultraviolet chroma," the relative contribution
 of UV to total brightness * S1B: Feather reflectance metric corresponding
 to "violet-blue chroma," calculated by the sum of reflectance in
 the violet-blue region divided by the sum of total reflectance in the
 entire spectrum * S9: Feather reflectance metric corresponding to
 "carotenoid chroma," the relative contribution of blue light to
 total brightness * YelInt: Feather reflectance metric corresponding to
 "yellow intensity," calculated by the average reflectance in the
 yellow region minus the minimum reflectance in the blue region * Year: The
 year at which the individual bird was sampled * Date: The exact date
 (YYYY-MM-DD) at which the individual bird was sampled * Site: The location
 the individual bird was sampled * Box: The nest box the individual bird
 was sampled at * Sex: The sex of the bird marked as female (F) * Age: The
 age of the bird marked as ASY (after second-year) or SY (second-year) *
 yrs_breeding: The number of years the bird has been a breeding adult *
 Weight: The weight of the bird in grams * DateHatchedEstimated: The date
 of when the individual bird was hatched * LastHatchDate: The date of when
 the bird last hatched a nest in a given season * LastHatchDate_prev: The
 ordinal day of when the bird last hatched a nest the previous season
 (relative to "Year") * LagYear: "Year" - 1 or, in
 other words, the year before the bird was sampled * Mean_Temp_7: The mean
 temperature of July (degrees Celsius) * Mean_Temp_8: The mean temperature
 of August (degrees Celsius) * Max_Temp_7: The maximum temperature of July
 (degrees Celsius) * Max_Temp_8: The maximum temperature of August (degrees
 Celsius) * Min_Temp_7: The minimum temperature of July (degrees Celsius) *
 Min_Temp_8: The minimum temperature of August (degrees Celsius) *
 Extreme_Temp_7:  If the temperature departure of July greater than one
 standard deviation of temperature departure, then it is assigned a 1. If
 less, then it is assigned a 0 * Extreme_Temp_8: If the temperature
 departure of August is greater than one standard deviation of temperature
 departure, then it is assigned a 1. If less, then it is assigned a 0 *
 Temp_Anomaly_7: The mean of the average temperature departure in
 July (degrees Celsius) * Temp_Anomaly_8: The mean of the average
 temperature departure in August (degrees Celsius) * Mean_Prcp_7: The mean
 precipitation of July (inches) * Mean_Prcp_8: The mean precipitation of
 August (inches) * Max_Prcp_7: The maximum precipitation of July (inches) *
 Max_Prcp_8: The maximum precipitation of August (inches) * Sum_Prcp_7: The
 total precipitation in July (inches) * Sum_Prcp_8: The total precipitation
 in August (inches) * Prcp_Anomaly_7: The mean of the precipitation
 departure in July (inches) * Prcp_Anomaly_8: The mean of the precipitation
 departure in August (inches) * Mean_Temp_78: The mean summer (July &
 August) temperature (degrees Celsius) * Max_Temp_78: The maximum summer
 (July & August) temperature (degrees Celsius) * Min_Temp_78: The
 minimum summer (July & August) temperature (degrees Celsius) *
 Extreme_Temp_78: If the summer (July & August) temperature departure
 is greater than one standard deviation of temperature departure, then it
 is assigned a 1. If less, then it is assigned a 0 * Temp_Anomaly_78: The
 mean of the average summer (July & August) temperature departure
 (degrees Celsius) * Mean_Prcp_78: The mean summer (July & August)
 precipitation (inches) * Max_Prcp_78: The maximum summer (July &
 August) precipitation (inches) * Sum_Prcp_78: The total summer (July &
 August) precipitation (inches) * Prcp_Anomaly_78: The mean of the summer
 (July & August) precipitation departure (inches) #### File:
 crown_feathers.csv **Description:** Contains morphological data for
 individual female birds including feather reflectance values for crown
 feathers, age, sex, etc. Also contains temperature and precipitation
 values for central Virginia, USA and the mean vegetation condition index
 for regions in Colombia. Missing values are indicated by "NA."
 ##### Variables * BandNumber: The ID of the sampled individual * B2:
 Feather reflectance metric corresponding to "mean brightness." *
 S1U: Feather reflectance metric corresponding to "ultraviolet
 chroma," the relative contribution of UV to total brightness * S1B:
 Feather reflectance metric corresponding to "violet-blue
 chroma," calculated by the sum of reflectance in the violet-blue
 region divided by the sum of total reflectance in the entire spectrum *
 S9: Feather reflectance metric corresponding to "carotenoid
 chroma," the relative contribution of blue light to total brightness
 * YelInt2: Feather reflectance metric corresponding to "yellow
 intensity," calculated by the average reflectance in the yellow
 region minus the minimum reflectance in the blue region * Year: The year
 at which the individual bird was sampled * Date: The exact date
 (YYYY-MM-DD) at which the individual bird was sampled * Site: The location
 the individual bird was sampled * Box: The nest box the individual bird
 was sampled at * Sex: The sex of the bird marked as female (F) * Age: The
 age of the bird marked as ASY (after second-year) or SY (second-year) *
 yrs_breeding: The number of years the bird has been a breeding adult *
 Weight: The weight of the bird in grams * DateHatchedEstimated: The date
 of when the individual bird was hatched * LastHatchDate: The date of when
 the bird last hatched a nest in a given season * LastHatchDate_prev: The
 ordinal day of when the bird last hatched a nest the previous season
 (relative to "Year") * LagYear: "Year" - 1 or, in
 other words, the year before the bird was sampled * Mean_Temp_7: The mean
 temperature of July (degrees Celsius) * Mean_Temp_8: The mean temperature
 of August (degrees Celsius) * Max_Temp_7: The maximum temperature of July
 (degrees Celsius) * Max_Temp_8: The maximum temperature of August (degrees
 Celsius) * Min_Temp_7: The minimum temperature of July (degrees Celsius) *
 Min_Temp_8: The minimum temperature of August (degrees Celsius) *
 Extreme_Temp_7:  If the temperature departure of July greater than one
 standard deviation of temperature departure, then it is assigned a 1. If
 less, then it is assigned a 0 * Extreme_Temp_8: If the temperature
 departure of August is greater than one standard deviation of temperature
 departure, then it is assigned a 1. If less, then it is assigned a 0 *
 Temp_Anomaly_7: The mean of the average temperature departure in
 July (degrees Celsius) * Temp_Anomaly_8: The mean of the average
 temperature departure in August (degrees Celsius) * Mean_Prcp_7: The mean
 precipitation of July (inches) * Mean_Prcp_8: The mean precipitation of
 August (inches) * Max_Prcp_7: The maximum precipitation of July (inches) *
 Max_Prcp_8: The maximum precipitation of August (inches) * Sum_Prcp_7: The
 total precipitation in July (inches) * Sum_Prcp_8: The total precipitation
 in August (inches) * Prcp_Anomaly_7: The mean of the precipitation
 departure in July (inches) * Prcp_Anomaly_8: The mean of the precipitation
 departure in August (inches) * Mean_Temp_78: The mean summer (July &
 August) temperature (degrees Celsius) * Max_Temp_78: The maximum summer
 (July & August) temperature (degrees Celsius) * Min_Temp_78: The
 minimum summer (July & August) temperature (degrees Celsius) *
 Extreme_Temp_78: If the summer (July & August) temperature departure
 is greater than one standard deviation of temperature departure, then it
 is assigned a 1. If less, then it is assigned a 0 * Temp_Anomaly_78: The
 mean of the average summer (July & August) temperature departure
 (degrees Celsius) * Mean_Prcp_78: The mean summer (July & August)
 precipitation (inches) * Max_Prcp_78: The maximum summer (July &
 August) precipitation (inches) * Sum_Prcp_78: The total summer (July &
 August) precipitation (inches) * Prcp_Anomaly_78: The mean of the summer
 (July & August) precipitation departure (inches) - meanvci: Weather
 metric corresponding to the mean vegetation condition index (VCI) of
 multiple regions in Colombia. VCI is a measure of drought or
 "greenness" ## Code/software R version 4.3.2 was used to view
 and analyze this data. ## Access information Weather data was derived from
 the following sources: * U.S. Department of Commerce, National Oceanic
 & Atmospheric Administration, & National Environmental Satellite,
 Data, and Information Service. (2004). Annual climatology: Richmond, VA
 (RIC). National Drought Mitigation Center.
 [https://drought.unl.edu/archive/climographs/RichmondANC.htm](https://drought.unl.edu/archive/climographs/RichmondANC.htm) * NOAA / NESDIS Center for Satellite Applications and Research. (2019). STAR - Global Vegetation Health Products. [https://www.star.nesdis.noaa.gov/smcd/emb/vci/VH/VH](https://www.star.nesdis.noaa.gov/smcd/emb/vci/VH/VH) Syst_10ap30.php