Multigenerational pedigree analysis of wild individually marked black sparrowhawks suggests that dark plumage coloration is a dominant autosomal trait

The black sparrowhawk (Accipiter melanoleucus) is a color-polymorphic sub-Saharan raptor, with adults occurring in two discrete color morphs: dark and light. It has previously been suggested that plumage coloration determined by one-locus two-allele system, the light allele being dominant over allele. Here, we revisit assumption an extended dataset of 130 individuals pedigree information from 75 spanning five generations. We test observed offspring phenotypic ratio against expected under Hardy–Weinberg equilibrium find significant deviations values. Contrary to previous assumption, our data indicate fact Similarly, multigenerational pedigrees obtained are incompatible where but consistent scenario instead. However, without knowledge underlying molecular basis polymorphism, uncertainty remains, intra-morph variation suggests modifier genes or environmental factors may also be involved. Our study not only provides foundation for future research on adaptive function polymorphism species highlights need caution when drawing conclusions about mode inheritance wild animal populations absence genetic data, especially one variant numerically much rarer than other.