Long-term effects of repeated handling and bleeding in wild caught Great Tits Parus major

Abstract

Handling and bleeding are frequently used procedures in avian research and several studies show that they can exert short-term effects, such as elevation in corticosterone levels. However, the long-term effects of exposure to such manipulations are largely unknown, but could have important implications, especially for much of the long-term research on birds and experiments that involve longitudinal assessments. In this study, we evaluated the effect of handling and bleeding on some physiological and behavioural parameters. Hand-reared Great Tits Parus major originating from wild nests were used in two different experiments for other purposes. In these experiments, the birds were exposed to different frequencies of bleeding and handling events across a period of 45 days. The ''high stress'' group experienced a total of seven times handling and five times bleeding, while a ''low stress'' group was handled three times and bled only once. Thirty days after the experiments, when caught and handled from a cage, individuals of the high stress group were easier to catch, displayed significantly higher breath rates, and were more docile than individuals of the low stress group. No differences in body mass were detected. These results indicate that repeated manipulations cause evident long-term changes in coping with such procedures, which are likely due to learning effects, and provide empirical evidence that the past experimental history of an animal has to be taken into account in subsequent experiments.

To change or not to change experimenters: caveats for repeated behavioural and physiological measures in Montagu's harrier

“…Although the respiratory frequency is often used to measure the stress (Carere and van Oers 2004, van Oers and Carere 2007, Torné-Noguera et al 2014), no effect was observed in the present study. The behaviour of the chicks was scored, and their physiological stress was estimated thus allowing to assess the difference in behavioural and physiological responses of naïve individuals between the two experimental groups.…”

“…Indeed, most of the time, the impact of investigators is seen from the disturbance effect point of view either on breeding success (Bolduc and Guillemette 2003, Blackmer et al 2004, Ibáñez-Álamo et al 2012, growth of chicks (Sandvik and Barrett 2001, O'Dwyer et al 2006, Carey 2009, 2011, or on behaviour and physiology (van Oers and Carere 2007) but rarely, to our knowledge, considering the identity of the people in charge of the experiment on wildlife fauna (see, however, Slobodchikoff et al 1991, Levey et al 2009, Marzluff et al 2010, Lee et al 2011, Davidson et al 2015. Indeed, most of the time, the impact of investigators is seen from the disturbance effect point of view either on breeding success (Bolduc and Guillemette 2003, Blackmer et al 2004, Ibáñez-Álamo et al 2012, growth of chicks (Sandvik and Barrett 2001, O'Dwyer et al 2006, Carey 2009, 2011, or on behaviour and physiology (van Oers and Carere 2007) but rarely, to our knowledge, considering the identity of the people in charge of the experiment on wildlife fauna (see, however, Slobodchikoff et al 1991, Levey et al 2009, Marzluff et al 2010, Lee et al 2011, Davidson et al 2015.…”

“…Some effects of investigator disturbances over repeated interactions have been documented on breeding success and chick growth rate (Sandvik and Barrett 2001, Bolduc and Guillemette 2003, Blackmer et al 2004, O'Dwyer et al 2006, Carey 2011) and on behavioural and physiological responses (van Oers and Carere 2007, Shutt et al 2014. handling and/or exposition) of the same animal.…”

“…Some effects of investigator disturbances over repeated interactions have been documented on breeding success and chick growth rate (Sandvik and Barrett 2001, Bolduc and Guillemette 2003, Blackmer et al 2004, O'Dwyer et al 2006, Carey 2011) and on behavioural and physiological responses (van Oers and Carere 2007, Shutt et al 2014. In a long-term study, great tits Parus major that experienced more repeated handling and bleeding were more docile and easier to catch thirty days after the experiment, but had a higher breath rate than individuals that were less disturbed (van Oers and Carere 2007). However, the potential habituation/sensitization phenomenons to experimenters throughout repeated measures have rarely been explored on wildlife (but see Levey et al 2009, Marzluff et al 2010, Lee et al 2011, Davidson et al 2015.…”

Effects of Endotoxin and Psychological Stress on Redox Physiology, Immunity and Feather Corticosterone in Greenfinches

“…We had reason to expect a physiological impact of predator image exposure because long-term effects of stressful events, such as capture [84], nest predation [27], translocation [85], restraint [86] or high stocking density [30], on different behavioural and physiological parameters have been recorded in birds. Furthermore, we detected that exposure to a predator image reduced total locomotor activity in greenfinches for at least 44 h after the treatment [87].…”