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from the dept. WASHINGTON - A little strategically placed makeup quickly turns the wimpiest of male barn swallows into chick magnets, amping up their testosterone and even trimming their weight, new research shows. It's a "clothes make the man" lesson that with some caveats also applies to human males, researchers say.Using a $5.99 marker, scientists darkened the rust-colored breast feathers of male New Jersey barn swallows, turning lighter birds to the level of those naturally darkest.They had already found, in a test three years ago, that the marked-up males were more attractive to females and mated more often.This time they found out that the more attractive appearance, at least in the bird world, triggered changes to the animals' body chemistry, increasing testosterone."Other females might be looking at them as being a little more sexy, and the birds might be feeling better about themselves in response to that," said study co-author Kevin McGraw, an evolutionary biology professor at Arizona State University. Read more < International Equine Science Meeting - 3rd - 5th Oktober 2008 -Regensburg Germany | Postdoctoral position on vocal communication and cognition in meerkats (Suricata suricatta), University of Zurich >
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Marker turns wimpy birds into chick magnets
