Use of canthaxanthin to maintain the natural colour of captive birds at Bronx Zoo

Bruning, Donald

doi:10.1111/j.1748-1090.1971.tb01909.x

Cited by 7 publications

(1 citation statement)

References 9 publications

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“…It is common in the zoological and avicultural literature to ¢nd articles on how to avoid loss of, or change in, expression of carotenoid-based plumage coloration in captive birds (e.g. Delacour 1928;Bruning 1971), but loss of, or change in, melanin-based plumage coloration is not discussed. This suggests that birds grow feathers with normal melanin pigmentation under a variety of captive conditions.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Melanin–based plumage coloration in the house finch is unaffected by coccidial infection

Hill

Brawner

1998

Proc. R. Soc. Lond. B

155

106

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For most species of birds, ornamental plumage coloration may result from two types of pigments: carotenoids and melanins. Despite the fact that melanin pigments can be synthesized by birds from basic, amino acid precursors, while carotenoids cannot be synthesized by birds and must be ingested, melanin-based plumage coloration and carotenoid-based plumage coloration have often been treated as a single trait in investigations of the function and evolution of plumage coloration. Expression of carotenoid-based coloration is known to be dependent on condition, while the e¡ects of individual condition have not been welltested for expression of melanin-based coloration. In this study, we experimentally tested the e¡ect of coccidial infection of the intestinal tract of male house ¢nches during moult on expression of melaninbased plumage coloration. Coccidial infection had a signi¢cant negative e¡ect on carotenoid-based coloration, but it had no signi¢cant e¡ect on melanin-based feather coloration. Unlike carotenoid-based coloration, melanin-based coloration my be cheap to produce, and honesty of melanin-based coloration may require social mediation.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%