Blue petrels recognize the odor of their egg

Abstract

Most studies on avian olfactory communication have focused on mate choice, and the importance of olfaction in subsequent nesting stages has been poorly explored. In particular, the role of olfactory cues in egg recognition has received little attention, despite eggs potentially being spread with parental odorous secretions known to elicit individual discrimination. Here, we used behavioral choice tests to determine whether female blue petrels (Halobaena caerulea) can discriminate the odor of their own egg from the odor of a conspecific egg. Females preferentially approached the odor of their own egg, suggesting that blue petrels can recognize their own egg using odor cues. This finding raises the question of the adaptive value of this mechanism, and may inspire further research on odor-based egg discrimination in species suffering brood parasitism.

Preen oil chemical composition encodes individuality, seasonal variation and kinship in black kites Milvus migrans

“…Correlations between genetic and chemical distances have been found in the song sparrow Melospiza melodia (Slade et al 2016) and the black-legged kittiwake Rissa tridactyla (Leclaire et al 2013(Leclaire et al , 2014, a bird that preferentially mate with unrelated individuals (Mulard et al 2009). In addition, zebra finches (Krause et al 2012), blue petrels Halobaena caerulea (Leclaire et al 2017), European storm petrels (Bonadonna and Sanz-Aguilar 2012) and Humboldt penguins (Coffin et al 2011) can discriminate genetic relatedness based on odour cues. Odour-based kin recognition may allow individuals to avoid inbreeding by choosing nonkin mates Sanz-Aguilar 2012, Wyatt 2014) and might reduce intrasexual competition between kin, thereby increasing inclusive fitness.…”

Kin grouping is insufficient to explain the inclusive fitness gains of conspecific brood parasitism in the common eider

“…The second form of kin recognition, which has received little attention relative to brood parasitism, is olfactory stimulus. Historically, few avian species were thought to have any useful form of olfactory senses, but recent work has provided a new perspective on a broader range of avian taxa in this regard (Caro, Balthazart, & Bonadonna, ; Leclaire, Bourret, & Bonadonna, ; Rymesova et al, ). In birds, the uropygial gland in particular is believed to secrete preening oils with chemical signals unique to that individual, which is available for detection by others through olfaction (Mardon, Saunders, & Bonadonna, ).…”

Unconditional adoption rules out the need for parent–offspring recognition in a single‐brooded colonial seabird

“…In Procellariiformes (albatrosses, petrels and shearwaters), the importance of olfactory cues in recognizing the nest, conspecifics and even one's own eggs has been investigated in several species, both on solitary and colonial breeders (e.g. Benvenuti et al, 1993;Bonadonna, 2009;Bonadonna & Nevitt, 2004;Cunningham et al, 2003;Gabirot et al, 2018;Leclaire et al, 2017aLeclaire et al, , 2017bWenzel, 1985). Furthermore, olfactory abilities might also be involved in social and familiar interactions as POR (Bonadonna & Sanz-Aguilar, 2012;Caspers et al, 2017), but there are no studies on petrels and shearwaters to date.…”