Behavioral and hormonal stress responses during chick rearing do not predict brood desertion by female in a small Arctic seabird.

• Published in: Hormones and Behavior
• Main Authors: Wojczulanis-Jakubas, Katarzyna, Jakubas, Dariusz, Chastel, Olivier
• Other Authors: Department of Vertebrate Ecology and Zoology, University of Gdańsk (UG), Centre d'Études Biologiques de Chizé (CEBC), Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique (INRA)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: HAL CCSD 2013
• Subjects: Alle alle; Biparental care; Corticosterone; Little auk; Prolactin; [SDE]Environmental Sciences; Arctic; little auk
• Online Access: https://hal.science/hal-00849068; https://doi.org/10.1016/j.yhbeh.2013.07.001

International audience : We examined behavioural and hormonal stress response in a small seabird (little auk, Alle alle), which exhibits a transition from biparental to male-only care towards the end of the nesting period, in order to understand the mechanisms underlying this parental strategy. We hypothesized that the male staying with the chick should be less sensitive to stressors. As such the male might offer the offspring more efficient protection during the fledging period than the female. We tested this hypothesis by observing male and female behaviour in a neophobia test. We also measured the birds' baseline and stress-induced levels of corticosterone and prolactin using the standardized capture-and-restraint protocol. Both sexes respond rapidly to foreign objects, delaying the entry time to the nest with food, consuming the food load, and/or temporarily abandoning feeding. However, we did not find any differences between the sexes in the frequency of each behaviour or in the time of the first reaction to the experimental treatment. Level of both corticosterone and prolactin increased after the experimental treatment. However, we did not find sex differences in baseline and stress-induced hormones level. The results indicate the males are as much sensitive to the stress situation as the females. Thus, the pattern of male and female behavioural and hormonal response to stress does not predict their behaviour at the final breeding stage.