No abstract

Male birds frequently face a trade-off between acquiring mates and caring for offspring. Hormone manipulation studies indicate that testosterone often mediates this trade-off, increasing mating effort while decreasing parental effort. Little is known, however, about individual covariation between testosterone and relevant behavior on which selection might act. Using wild, male dark-eyed juncos (Junco hyemalis), we measured individual variation in testosterone levels before and after standardized injections of gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH). The GnRH challenges have been shown to produce short-term testosterone increases that are similar to those produced naturally in response to social stimuli, repeatable in magnitude, and greater in males with more attractive ornaments. We correlated these testosterone increases with behavioral measures of mating and parental effort (aggressive response to a simulated territorial intrusion and nestling feeding, respectively). Males that showed higher postchallenge testosterone displayed more territorial behavior, and males that produced higher testosterone increases above initial levels displayed reduced parental behavior. Initial testosterone levels were positively but nonsignificantly correlated with aggression but did not predict parental behavior. These relationships suggest that natural variation in testosterone, specifically the production of short-term increases, may underlie individual variation in the mating effort/parental effort trade-off. We discuss the implications of these results for the evolution of hormonally mediated trade-offs.

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No abstract

When male investment in mating varies with quality, reliable sexual signals may evolve. In many songbirds, testosterone mediates mating investment, suggesting that signals should be linked to testosterone production. However, because testosterone may change rapidly during behaviour such as territorial aggression and courtship, efforts to establish such a relationship have proved challenging. In a population of dark‐eyed juncos, we measured individual variation in the production of short‐term testosterone increases by injecting gonadotropin‐releasing hormone (GnRH). We found a positive correlation between the magnitude of these increases and the size of a plumage ornament (‘tail white’) previously shown to be important for female choice and male–male competition. We then measured naturally elevated testosterone levels produced during male–male competition and found that they covaried with those induced by GnRH. We suggest that the association between tail white and testosterone increases may allow conspecifics to assess potential mates and competitors reliably using tail white.