mating system

tags: researchblogging.org, dichromatism, mating system, plumage color, sex allocation, eclectus parrots, Eclectus roratus, ornithology, birds, avian, parrots Elektra, my female Solomon Islands eclectus parrot, Eclectus roratus solomonensis. This is the smallest and most distinctively marked of all the subspecies of eclectus parrots. Image: GrrlScientist 4 July 2008 [larger view]. Some of you might recall the recent story about scientists learning to identify plumage coloration from fossilized feathers. This might seem a sort of esoteric pursuit meant to entertain scientists with access to…