First record of feather-loss disorder in Antarctic penguins

Barbosa, Andrés; Colominas-Ciuró, Roger; Coria, Néstor Rubén; Centurión, Mara; Sandler, Rosana V; Negri, Agustina; Santos, Mercedes

doi:10.1017/s0954102014000467

Cited by 13 publications

(14 citation statements)

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“…crossed-bills, aberrant limb development; Feare 1974, Gochfeld 1975, Bourne et al 1977 in PFL chicks or any other common tern chicks at our site. Lack of concurrent abnormalities is, however, consistent with historical records for gulls (Roy et al 1986) and contemporary reports among penguins (Kane et al 2010, Barbosa et al 2015, Grimaldi et al 2015. Colony-wide hatching success also did not appear any different from in previous years (Arnold & Oswald unpublished data), suggesting an absence of gross embryonic deformity (such situations were previously linked with PFL; Hays and Risebrough 1972).…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 81%

Peer Review #3 of "Premature feather loss among common tern chicks in Ontario: the return of an enigmatic developmental anomaly (v0.1)"

2016

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, we observed premature feather loss (PFL) among non-sibling, common tern Sterna hirundo chicks between 2 and 4 weeks of age at Gull Island in northern Lake Ontario, Canada. Rarely observed in wild birds, to our knowledge PFL has not been recorded in terns since 1974, despite the subsequent banding of hundreds of thousands of tern chicks across North America alone. The prevalence, 5% of chicks (9/167), and extent of feather loss we report is more extreme than in previous reports for common terns but was not accompanied by other aberrant developmental or physical deformities. Complete feather loss from all body areas (wing, tail, head and body) occurred over a period of a few days but all affected chicks appeared vigorous and quickly began to grow replacement feathers. All but one chick (recovered dead and submitted for post-mortem) most likely fledged 10-20 days after normal fledging age. We found no evidence of feather dystrophy, concurrent developmental abnormalities or nutritional shortfall among affected chicks. Thus, the PFL we observed among common terns in 2014 was largely of unknown origin. There was striking temporal association between the onset of PFL and persistent strong southwesterly winds that caused extensive mixing of near-shore surface water with cool, deep lake waters. One hypothesis is that PFL may have been caused by unidentified pathogens or toxins welling up from these deep waters along the shoreline but current data are insufficient to test this. PFL was not observed among common terns at Gull Island in 2015, although we did observe similar feather loss in a herring gull Larus argentatus chick in that year. Comparison with sporadic records of PFL in other seabirds suggests that PFL may be a rare, but non-specific response to a range of potential stressors. PFL is now known for gulls, penguins and terns.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 81%

Peer Review #3 of "Premature feather loss among common tern chicks in Ontario: the return of an enigmatic developmental anomaly (v0.1)"

2016

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“…Thus, it is possible that the causal agent persisted in the environment or was communicated to the developing embryo from the parent. As in most other cases of PFL, chicks showing this condition had normal siblings, suggesting a low rate of transmission and an absence of a strong genetic link (Roy et al 1986, Kane et al 2010, Barbosa et al 2015. Pathogens such as algal toxins and bacteria (Bourne et al 1977) or tick-borne (Feare 1974) or other viruses (Leeson andWalsh 2004, Ha et al 2007) have been suggested as causes of PFL but we found no evidence of known viral (e.g.…”

Section: But Atsupporting

confidence: 52%

Contemporary premature feather loss (PFL) among common tern chicks in Lake Ontario: the return of an enigmatic developmental anomaly

Arnold

Tyerman

Crump

et al. 2015

Preprint

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In July 2014, we observed premature feather loss (PFL) among non-sibling, common tern Sterna hirundo chicks between 2 and 4 weeks of age at Gull Island in northern Lake Ontario, Canada. Rarely observed in wild birds, to our knowledge PFL has not been recorded in terns since 1974, despite the banding of tens of thousands of tern chicks across North America since then. The prevalence (5% of chicks) and extent of feather loss was more extreme than in previous reports but was not accompanied by other aberrant developmental or physical deformities. Complete feather loss from all body areas (wing, tail, head and body) occurred over a period of a few days but all affected chicks appeared vigorous and quickly began to grow replacement feathers. All but one (recovered dead and submitted for post-mortem) most likely fledged 10-20 days after normal fledging age. Secondary covert feather samples were collected from PFL chicks (n=6; including shed feathers and re-growing live feathers) and normal individuals (n=8; plucked live feathers) and were analyzed for corticosterone concentrations. There was striking temporal association between the onset of PFL and persistent strong southwesterly winds that caused extensive mixing of near-shore surface water with cool, deep lake waters. We found no evidence of feather dystrophy, concurrent developmental abnormalities or nutritional shortfall among affected chicks. Thus, the PFL we observed among common terns in 2014 was largely of unknown origin but may have been caused by unidentified pathogens or toxins welling up from these deep waters along the shoreline. PFL was not observed among common terns at Gull Island in 2015, although we did observe similar feather loss in a herring gull Larus argentatus chick in that year. Comparison with sporadic records of PFL in other seabirds suggests that PFL may be a rare, but non-specific response to a range of potential stressors. Its reemergence in penguins, and now gulls and terns, may indicate widespread environmental changes that could lead to health risks for birds and other wildlife.

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“…In the 2011-2012 austral summer breeding season, we observed an Adélie penguin (Pygoscelis adeliae) chick with the feather disorder at Cape Royds ( Figure 1B), but it grew its adult feathers and fledged, appearing healthy. In the 2013-2014 breeding season, premature loss of feathers resulting in exposed bare skin was noted by Barbosa et al [2] in Adélie penguins at the Esperanza Bay colony (Hope Bay, Antarctic Peninsula).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 89%

“…It has generally been hypothesized that the disorder in penguins that results in missing feathers is due to a viral etiological agent [2,5]. While investigating a feather disorder condition in adult Adélie penguins (small patches of missing feathers; incidence of 1 in 1000 animals observed), Grimaldi et al [5] identified an astrovirus-like sequence by using a metagenomic approach on pooled blood samples from affected birds.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Identification of a Novel Adélie Penguin Circovirus at Cape Crozier (Ross Island, Antarctica)

Morandini

Dugger

Ballard

et al. 2019

Viruses

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Understanding the causes of disease in Antarctic wildlife is crucial, as many of these species are already threatened by environmental changes brought about by climate change. In recent years, Antarctic penguins have been showing signs of an unknown pathology: a feather disorder characterised by missing feathers, resulting in exposed skin. During the 2018–2019 austral summer breeding season at Cape Crozier colony on Ross Island, Antarctica, we observed for the first time an Adélie penguin chick missing down over most of its body. A guano sample was collected from the nest of the featherless chick, and using high-throughput sequencing, we identified a novel circovirus. Using abutting primers, we amplified the full genome, which we cloned and Sanger-sequenced to determine the complete genome of the circovirus. The Adélie penguin guano-associated circovirus genome shares <67% genome-wide nucleotide identity with other circoviruses, representing a new species of circovirus; therefore, we named it penguin circovirus (PenCV). Using the same primer pair, we screened 25 previously collected cloacal swabs taken at Cape Crozier from known-age adult Adélie penguins during the 2014–2015 season, displaying no clinical signs of feather-loss disorder. Three of the 25 samples (12%) were positive for a PenCV, whose genome shared >99% pairwise identity with the one identified in 2018–2019. This is the first report of a circovirus associated with a penguin species. This circovirus could be an etiological agent of the feather-loss disorder in Antarctic penguins.

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First record of feather-loss disorder in Antarctic penguins

Cited by 13 publications

References 5 publications

Peer Review #3 of "Premature feather loss among common tern chicks in Ontario: the return of an enigmatic developmental anomaly (v0.1)"

Peer Review #3 of "Premature feather loss among common tern chicks in Ontario: the return of an enigmatic developmental anomaly (v0.1)"

Contemporary premature feather loss (PFL) among common tern chicks in Lake Ontario: the return of an enigmatic developmental anomaly

Identification of a Novel Adélie Penguin Circovirus at Cape Crozier (Ross Island, Antarctica)

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