Plumage colour variation occurs widely among bird species and is often associated with individual fitness. More specifically, colouration can affect thermoregulatory ability, mate selection and conspicuousness during foraging. Colour aberrations can be caused by genetic mutations, dietary imbalances, environmental conditions or disease and are rare. Plumage variations have previously been noted in Adélie penguins, although without any follow-up to measure implications for behaviour or fitness. To assess how this low-frequency condition affects breeding in Adélie penguins, we monitored the breeding of several colour-aberrant Adélie penguins during the 2019–2020 nesting season at the large Cape Crozier, Ross Island colony (> 300,000 pairs). In total, we found 12 individuals with unusual plumage for a frequency of 1:50,000 breeding penguins. There were seven dark brown Adélie penguins, three progressive greying Adélie penguins, one dilute Adélie penguin and one brown Adélie penguin, of which five were female, three male and four of unknown sex. Six colour aberrants initiated breeding with a normal-coloured mate, and five raised at least one chick to crèche. The likelihood of breeding and breeding success of colour aberrants were similar to those of normal-coloured Adélie penguins, suggesting that colour aberrations do not negatively affect breeding.

中文翻译：

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南极罗斯岛克罗齐尔角颜色异常的阿德利企鹅 (Pygoscelis adeliae) 的繁殖行为

羽毛颜色变化在鸟类中广泛存在，并且通常与个体健康有关。更具体地说，颜色会影响觅食期间的体温调节能力、配偶选择和显眼性。色差可能是由基因突变、饮食不平衡、环境条件或疾病引起的，这种情况很少见。阿德利企鹅以前曾注意到羽毛的变化，尽管没有任何后续措施来衡量对行为或健康的影响。为了评估这种低频条件如何影响阿德利企鹅的繁殖，我们监测了 2019-2020 年在罗斯岛大型克罗齐尔角 (> 300,000 对) 筑巢季节的几只颜色异常的阿德利企鹅的繁殖情况。总的来说，我们以 1:50,000 的繁殖企鹅的频率发现了 12 个具有不寻常羽毛的个体。有七只深棕色阿德利企鹅、三只渐进灰化阿德利企鹅、一只淡化阿德利企鹅和一只棕色阿德利企鹅，其中五只雌性、三只雄性和四只性别未知。六只颜色异常开始与正常颜色的伴侣进行繁殖，五只将至少一只小鸡饲养到托儿所。颜色异常的繁殖和繁殖成功的可能性与正常颜色的阿德利企鹅相似，这表明颜色异常不会对繁殖产生负面影响。