For what its worth, I can suggest two advantages:
1) I would suspect that a bird that is inadequately feed, or is sick, might
not have as bright red colour as a fit bird and so would be avoided as a
mate.
2) The red might be conspicuous to predator, as is their marked black and
white colour, so they might be advertising that they are so fit they can run
rings round the local raptor population and so are again a fit mate. Again
a bright red legged and billed bird would be the Mat Damon or Paris Hilton
(chose your own preference here) or the local flock
These would be the standard options - could be a bit of both?
Tim Murphy
-----Original Message-----
From:
Behalf Of Bob Moffatt
Sent: Saturday, 29 July 2006 9:39 AM
To:
Subject: Pink/Red colouration of legs and bill of
PiedOystercatchers
can anyone suggest the function/purpose of the contrasting red colouration
of legs and bills of Oystercatchers, and for Pied Stilts for that matter??
Thanks
Bob Moffatt
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