Red junglefowl have individual body odors

Abstract

SUMMARYOlfaction may play an important role in regulating bird behavior, and has been suggested to be involved in feather-pecking. We investigated possible differences in the body odors of red junglefowl females by using an automated olfactometer which assessed the ability of trained mice to discriminate between the odors of uropygial gland secretions (the main carrier of potential individual odors in chickens) of six feather-pecked and six non-pecked birds. All mice were clearly able to discriminate between all individual red junglefowl odors, showing that each bird has an individual body odor. We analyzed whether it was more difficult to discriminate between the odors of two feather-pecked, or two non-pecked birds, than it was to discriminate between the odors of two randomly selected birds. This was not the case, suggesting that feather-pecked birds did not share a common odor signature. Analyses using gas chromatography and mass spectrometry showed that the composition of aliphatic carboxylic acids in uropygial gland secretions differed consistently between individuals. However, chemical composition did not vary according to feather-pecking status. We conclude that red junglefowl have individual body odors which appear to be largely based on differences in the relative abundance of aliphatic carboxylic acids, but there is no evidence of systematic differences between the body odors of pecked and non-pecked birds.

The perfume of reproduction in birds: Chemosignaling in avian social life

“…Mice have been used in experiments where they were asked to discriminate between odors sampled on birds (Celerier et al, 2011; Karlsson et al, 2010). The conclusion of these studies was that mice can discriminate olfactory and kin signatures in birds.…”

Volatile and Semivolatile Compounds in Gray Catbird Uropygial Secretions Vary with Age and Between Breeding and Wintering Grounds

“…Volatile compounds, capable of being sensed at a distance, may serve as intraspecific chemical signals. For example, individual odorant signatures have been identified in petrels (Bonadonna et al, 2007), red junglefowl (Karlsson et al, 2010), and dark-eyed juncos (Whittaker et al, 2010). These individual signatures have been associated with mate choice and recognition (Mardon et al, 2010;Whittaker et al, 2010) and with parenting behaviors (Whittaker et al, 2009).…”

“…We found that linear and branched carboxylic acids were the predominant volatile compounds in the secretions, and that their signal strengths varied significantly with exogenous testosterone and with photoperiod but that sex had no significant effect. As a result of the experimental design, that study focused exclusively on the most volatile components of the secretion samples, those containing up to six carbon atoms, whereas in other bird species uropygial secretions containing linear alcohols and carboxylic acids with much longer aliphatic chains have been identified (Sandilands et al, 2004;Montalti et al, 2005;Bonadonna et al, 2007;Soini et al, 2007;Karlsson et al, 2010;Zhang et al, 2010).…”

Chemical kin label in seabirds

“…This is probably why, despite three decades of physiological and behavioural studies establishing the existence of avian olfactory functions [1], chemical communication has been essentially ignored. Recent research, however, suggests that chemosignals may contribute to avian social behaviours [2][3][4][5][6], thus challenging our understanding of birds' ecology. Petrel seabirds, which possess a developed olfactory system [7], a noticeable musky scent and a life history favourable to olfactory-mediated behaviours [8], are appropriate models to investigate these questions [9].…”