Search

The article discusses a study on the existence of egg color variation in Aphelcoma ultramarina, also known as Mexican Jays. The study procedure began with the quantification of egg color of 143 eggs that came from 54 nests found in Sierra del Carmen of Coahuila, Mexico. Results indicated the prevalence of eggs with pigmentation at high elevation.

The adaptive significance of avian egg speckling patterns has been a subject of ongoing debate. We examined speckling in a population of Mexican jays Aphelocoma ultramarina exhibiting extreme eggshell variability. We sampled 167 eggs at 55 nests from sites ranging across a steep elevation gradient within the Sierra del Carmen mountain range in Coahuila, Mexico, in order to test the recent hypothesis that egg speckling lends structural support to eggs and should therefore be more prevalent in females subject to reduced environmental calcium. Although we documented high variation in the amount and distribution of eggshell speckling within the Sierra del Carmen jays, we found no relationship between local soil calcium levels and the pattern of speckling. Our results indicate that explanations in addition to soil calcium levels are necessary to explain extreme variation in eggshell speckling in birds. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]