Evidence of a dominance hierarchy in captive Caribbean flamingos and its relation to pair bonding and physiological measures of health

Royer, Erica A.; Anderson, Matthew

doi:10.1016/j.beproc.2014.03.005

Cited by 15 publications

(13 citation statements)

References 44 publications

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“…It seemed possible that more dominant birds could have ended up being the primary users of the mirrors, but this possibility was not supported by our results. Instead, agonistic encounters and dominance seemed unlikely to have led to the variability seen in mirror use, even though the apparent relationships among the agonistic variables themselves (seen in Table 2) were in line with previous avian research (Verbeek et al, 1996;Bekoff and Scott, 1989;Royer and Anderson, 2014;Jackson, 1988Jackson, , 1991. Indeed, our findings support the prevalence and generalizability of the relationship between winning agonistic encounters, initiating agonistic encounters, and desirability across avian species such that those who initiate more encounters are more likely to win and tend to be more desirable birds (Anderson and Laughlin, 2014;Jackson, 1991), but again, dominance appeared generally unrelated to mirror use.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 79%

Budgie in the mirror: An exploratory analysis of social behaviors and mirror use in the Budgerigar (Melopsittacus undulatus)

Buckley

Duggan

Anderson

2017

Behavioural Processes

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 79%

Budgie in the mirror: An exploratory analysis of social behaviors and mirror use in the Budgerigar (Melopsittacus undulatus)

Buckley

Duggan

Anderson

2017

Behavioural Processes

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“…(see Davis et al., for review). Over the past decade, the numbers of different species in which the method has been employed has risen dramatically and now includes a long list of mammals such as bats (Seltmann et al., ), chimpanzees ( Pan troglodytes , Obanda, Omondi, & Chiyo, ) and dogs (Dudley, Schiml, & Hennessy, ), reptiles such as snakes (Sparkman et al., ), tortoises (Goessling, Guyer, & Mendona, ) and turtles (Camacho et al., ; Hunt et al., ), and well over one hundred species of birds including flamingo ( Phoenicopterus ruber , Royer & Anderson, ), and ostrich ( Struthio camelus , Bonato, Evans, Hasselquist, & Cherry, ). Research on amphibians and fish has similarly expanded (e.g.…”

Section: Use Of Leukocyte Profiles Over the Past Decadementioning

confidence: 99%

The use of glucocorticoid hormones or leucocyte profiles to measure stress in vertebrates: What’s the difference?

2018

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Measuring stress in animals is important in many ecological, zoological and veterinary research settings. A common method is to measure plasma levels of glucocorticoid hormones (cortisol, corticosterone, hereafter CORT). Over the past decade, an alternative method has become widely popular: assessing leucocyte profiles; in other words, the heterophil‐to‐lymphocyte ratio (H/L) in birds and reptiles or the neutrophil‐to‐lymphocyte ratio (N/L) in mammals, amphibians and fish. Recent studies have shown that although both indices reliably change after acute stress, they are not always correlated at baseline, and thus are not interchangeable. This lack of correlation has led to some confusion about which of these two measures is “better”; in other words, more biologically relevant and a truer readout of stress. In this review, we first document the dramatic expansion of the use of leucocyte profiles to assess stress over the past decade. We then review published evidence that may explain the discrepancies between leucocyte profiles and plasma CORT. We argue that these discrepancies stem from the nature of the stress reaction and the role of corticosterone (or cortisol) versus leucocytes during the stress response. The differing roles of the two responses translate to differences in the timing of each, which is important for researchers studying either acute or chronic stress. Although plasma glucocorticoids rise within minutes of the onset of acute stress and return to baseline within 1 or 2 hr after the stressor passes, H/L or N/L ratios remain low for at least 30–60 min or sometimes more. The temporal nature of these metrics differs also in the context of long‐term chronic stress. The glucocorticoid response wanes in repeatedly stressed animals, or those exposed to chronic environmental stress, which can often (but not always) lead to low baseline levels and more typically, an attenuated acute stress response. Meanwhile, H/L or N/L ratios appear to remain high under the same conditions. Understanding the temporal differences in the responses should help researchers decide which metric is the better method in their particular study, or whether both would be useful for elucidating different elements of the stress response.

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“…This individual consistency in levels of aggression could very well be related to dominance in these birds with hyper‐aggressive individuals being more dominant. Other studies have found evidence of a semi‐linear or non‐linear dominance hierarchy in American flamingos [Hughes and Driscoll, ; Royer and Anderson, ], so it would be interesting to investigate dominance in the Audubon population in order to better grasp how individuals fit within the group and the role of their individual levels of aggression. Also, we have only used aggressive interactions to construct social networks, but other social data could be used to construct social networks like social proximity [as shown by McCully et al, ].…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Inter-annual patterns of aggression and pair bonding in captive American flamingos (Phoenicopterus ruber)

et al. 2016

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Because zoos typically house animals for extended periods of time, longitudinal studies can play an important role in evaluating and optimizing animal care and management. For example, information on patterns of aggression and mating behavior across years can be used to monitor well-being, assess response to changes to group composition, and promote successful reproduction. Here, we report on patterns of aggression and pair bonding by American flamingos (Phoenicopterus ruber) at the Audubon Zoo, New Orleans USA across 4 years (2012-2015), a period that included a simultaneous introduction and removal of individuals in 2014. At the population level, overall rates and social network indices of aggressive interactions were relatively stable over the study period, without a strong signal of the 2014 replacement event. At the individual level, flamingos exhibited a high degree of within-individual consistency in levels of aggression initiated (W = 0.530, P < 0.001), and received (W = 0.369, P = 0.042). In terms of pair bonds, females re-paired with the same individuals across years more frequently (between 58% and 100% from year to year) than they switched mates, and no bonds were established between pre-existing and introduced individuals. These findings indicate a high degree of stability in aggression and pair bonding behavior in this population of captive flamingos, at both the population and individual level. Longitudinal studies such as this one provide an opportunity to better our understanding of flamingos and other long-lived, group-living animals along with their management needs, especially in terms of maintaining social cohesion in captivity and improving captive breeding programs.

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Evidence of a dominance hierarchy in captive Caribbean flamingos and its relation to pair bonding and physiological measures of health

Cited by 15 publications

References 44 publications

Budgie in the mirror: An exploratory analysis of social behaviors and mirror use in the Budgerigar (Melopsittacus undulatus)

Budgie in the mirror: An exploratory analysis of social behaviors and mirror use in the Budgerigar (Melopsittacus undulatus)

The use of glucocorticoid hormones or leucocyte profiles to measure stress in vertebrates: What’s the difference?

Inter-annual patterns of aggression and pair bonding in captive American flamingos (Phoenicopterus ruber)

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