Feather corticosterone of a nestling seabird reveals consequences of sex-specific parental investment

Fairhurst, Graham D.; Navarro, Joan; González‐Solís, Jacob; Marchant, Tracy A.; Bortolotti, Gary R.

doi:10.1098/rspb.2011.0884

Cited by 41 publications

(34 citation statements)

References 52 publications

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“…In seabirds, increased CORT secretion is associated with low food availability (Doody et al, 2008;Kitaysky et al, 2007;Kitaysky et al, 2010;Dorresteijn et al, 2012) and in many species plasma CORT correlates inversely with population parameters such as reproductive success, survival and population trends (Buck et al, 2007;Kitaysky et al, 2007;Kitaysky et al, 2010;Harding et al, 2011;Dorresteijn et al, 2012;Satterthwaite et al, 2012). Chicks experience food limitation when their parents are unable or unwilling to compensate for food shortages (Harding et al, 2009;Fairhurst et al, 2012a;Jacobs et al, 2013), thus presenting a direct physiological response of individuals to changes in their nutritional environment.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Feather corticosterone reveals developmental stress in seabirds

Will

Suzuki

Elliott

et al. 2014

Journal of Experimental Biology

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In nest-bound avian offspring, food shortages typically trigger a release of the stress hormone corticosterone (CORT). Recent studies indicate that CORT is passively deposited in the tissue of growing feathers and thus may provide an integrated measure of stress incurred during development in the nest. The current hypothesis predicts that, assuming a constant rate of feather growth, elevated CORT circulating in the blood corresponds to higher levels of CORT in feather tissue, but experimental evidence for nutritionally stressed chicks is lacking. Here, we examined how food limitation affects feather CORT content in the rhinoceros auklet (Cerorhinca moncerata). We (i) used captive chicks reared on control versus restricted diets, and (ii) applied this technique to free-living chicks with unknown nutritional histories that fledged at three separate colonies. We found that (i) feather growth was not affected by experimentally induced nutritional stress; (ii) captive chicks raised on a restricted diet had higher levels of CORT in their primary feathers; (iii) feather CORT deposition is a sensitive method of detecting nutritional stress; and (iv) free-living fledglings from the colony with poor reproductive performance had higher CORT in their primary feathers. We conclude that feather CORT is a sensitive integrated measure revealing the temporal dynamics of food limitations experienced by rhinoceros auklet nestlings. The use of feather CORT may be a powerful endocrine tool in ecological and evolutionary studies of bird species with similar preferential allocation of limited resources to feather development.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Feather corticosterone reveals developmental stress in seabirds

Will

Suzuki

Elliott

et al. 2014

Journal of Experimental Biology

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“…Work with birds has shown that feathers contain corticosterone (CORT) (Bortolotti et al, 2008;Koren et al, 2012), the primary avian GC. CORT in feathers (CORT f ) has been correlated with variation in parental provisioning (Fairhurst et al, 2012b), nest box microclimate (Fairhurst et al, 2012a), environmental enrichment (Fairhurst et al, 2011), expression of carotenoid-based signals (Bortolotti et al, 2009b;Mougeot et al, 2010;Kennedy et al, 2013), egg mass (Kouwenberg et al, 2013), stable isotopes of carbon (Fairhurst et al, 2013) and components of fitness (Bortolotti et al, 2008;Koren et al, 2012). This biomarker relates to diverse ecological factors, suggesting that it integrates CORT secretion in general, rather than expresses a response to any specific source of environmental variation.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Experimental relationships between levels of corticosterone in plasma and feathers in a free-living bird

Fairhurst

Marchant

Soos

et al. 2013

Journal of Experimental Biology

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102

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SUMMARYIntegrated measures of corticosterone (CORT), such as from feathers (CORT f ), have intuitive appeal because they incorporate both the duration and amplitude of glucocorticoid secretion. An association between CORT f and plasma CORT has never been shown in wild birds, and it is unclear as to when and whether these measures should be correlated, given that they are fundamentally different yet related measures of physiology. We hypothesized that CORT f should correlate with instantaneous measurements of plasma CORT when the latter reflect sustained changes in the activity of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis. To test this, we experimentally manipulated levels of plasma CORT in wild nestling tree swallows (Tachycineta bicolor) using 5day time-release CORT pellets, and measured plasma CORT and growth parameters before, during and at the end of hormone manipulation (days 7, 9 and 11 post-hatch, respectively). CORT f and plasma CORT were significantly positively related only when the latter was at its highest and most variable among individuals (day 9). A similar relationship was expected at day 11, but plasma CORT had returned to near-original levels. Nestlings with higher CORT f were smaller, lighter and less likely to fledge, but we did not detect seasonal effects on CORT f . Our results clearly demonstrate that CORT f from free-living birds can reflect plasma CORT, but correlations may not always be expected, especially if elevations in plasma CORT are relatively modest and of short duration. Our work suggests that CORT f is best used to study the activity of the HPA axis over relatively long time frames and can be used effectively to advance avian ecology. Supplementary material available online at

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“…Social mate choice, which appeared associated with female corticosterone levels , may therefore modulate the impacts that natural stressors, such as parasites, have on corticosterone levels. Further research on the mechanisms and functions of physiological stress is needed in free-living animals, and measures of integrated stress responses, like CORTf measurements (Bortolotti et al 2009b;Fairhurst et al 2012Fairhurst et al , 2014Lendvai et al 2013) will greatly contribute to this goal. Future experiments should determine whether the association between female corticosterone levels and male ornamentation is mediated via the quality of resources provided by males to breeding females or is a female adjustment to its achieved mate choice.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…This opened up a new window of opportunity for understanding the role that physiological stress plays in the life of wild birds (Bortolotti et al 2009b;Fairhurst et al 2011;Fairhurst et al 2012;Koren et al 2012;Carrete et al 2013;Lendvai et al 2013;Martinez-Padilla et al 2013). However, to date, few studies have related measures of integrated stress responses, such as feather corticosterone levels (hereafter CORTf) to parasite abundance, levels of sexual ornamentation or mate quality (e.g.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Parasites, mate attractiveness and female feather corticosterone levels in a socially monogamous bird

Mougeot

Lendvai

Martínez‐Padilla

et al. 2015

Behav Ecol Sociobiol

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Stress is ubiquitous in the life of animals and a key determinant of their well-being and fitness. By quantifying levels of feather corticosterone in growing feathers (CORTf), we measured integrated stress responses in a monogamous game bird, the red grouse Lagopus lagopus scoticus. We investigated the effects of parasites and social mate choice on female CORTf levels during pairing, and tested the hypothesis that females with more parasites and paired with less attractive males have higher CORTf. We experimentally reduced nematode parasite abundance during pairing in females and investigated the effect of treatment on CORTf, while also considering the social mate's phenotype (male comb size, as a proxy of sexual attractiveness). The treatment was effective at contrasting parasite loads between control and dosed females, but had no apparent effect on CORTf. In experimental females, reinfection rate after a month positively correlated with CORTf. We found no evidence of assortative mating based on size, condition or ornament size, but females paired with more attractive males (displaying bigger combs) had lower CORTf during pairing. Females for which parasite load was reduced had lower CORTf than control females at all levels of male attractiveness. Social mate choice therefore appears to be an important determinant of female integrated stress responses, which may in turn modulate reinfection rate and parasitism risk. An influence of male attractiveness on female stress may be part of an adaptive response allowing females to adjust reproductive investment to their achieved social mate choice. Significance statementMate choice is often constrained by the availability of potential mates and not all females socially pair with their preferred partner. We show here that in females of a socially monogamous bird, corticosterone levels in feathers (indicative of integrated stress responses) increase with parasite infection levels but decrease with the attractiveness of the social mate. These results contribute to a better understanding of how females may adjust their reproductive investment according to their achieved mate choice.

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Feather corticosterone of a nestling seabird reveals consequences of sex-specific parental investment

Cited by 41 publications

References 52 publications

Feather corticosterone reveals developmental stress in seabirds

Feather corticosterone reveals developmental stress in seabirds

Experimental relationships between levels of corticosterone in plasma and feathers in a free-living bird

Parasites, mate attractiveness and female feather corticosterone levels in a socially monogamous bird

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