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Feather coloration in museum specimens is related to feather corticosterone

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Abstract

Colorful ornaments in birds are often sexually selected signals of quality, and variation in ornament expression may be mediated by physiological stress through the secretion of corticosterone. However, testing for links between ornamentation and corticosterone often requires sampling live animals, and such physiological measures may not be matched in the time span in which they were sampled (e.g., very dynamic plasma corticosterone vs. plumage coloration, which is relatively static). Here, we use museum specimens to test for a link between the color of a sexual ornament and feather corticosterone at the time of ornament formation. In red-winged blackbirds, Agelaius phoeniceus, carotenoid-based epaulets appear to be important in male–male social interactions, territory maintenance, and female choice. We measured reflectance spectra of adult male epaulets and plucked adjacent feathers for corticosterone analysis via radioimmunoassay. We controlled for differences in the number of mates, specimen age, and geography by selecting only males with one mate and only birds collected in Florida during a 3-year period. Epaulet hue and red chroma did not vary with feather corticosterone, but males whose epaulets scored high for mean brightness and red brightness had significantly lower corticosterone than males with low brightness scores. This correlation with brightness but not hue or chroma is consistent with an effect of corticosterone (CORT) on feather microstructure, with elevated CORT leading to lower reflectance of white light from the keratin matrix surrounding the carotenoid pigments.

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Acknowledgments

We thank KB Boomer for consultations regarding the statistical analyses and George Linz at the U.S. Department of Agriculture Wildlife Service, National Wildlife Research Center, Bismarck, ND for providing the whole red-winged blackbird specimens, as well as James Dean, Eileen Spade, Morgan Gilmour, and Jameson Clarke for the logistical support. We thank DeeAnn Reeder, Mark Haussmann, and three anonymous reviewers for providing helpful feedback on the drafts of the manuscript. Thank you to the National Museum of Natural History for access to the specimens. Funding was provided by the Smithsonian Institution to EA Kennedy, by the Bucknell University Biology Department and Herbert L. Spencer endowed funds to DC Dearborn and the National Science Foundation (USA) IOS-1048529 to LM Romero.

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The authors declare that the experiments herein comply with the current laws of the USA.

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The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Biology, Bucknell University, Lewisburg, PA, USA

    Eileen A. Kennedy & Donald C. Dearborn

  2. Department of Biology, Tufts University, Medford, MA, USA

    Christine R. Lattin & L. Michael Romero

  3. Department of Biology, Bates College, 44 Campus Ave., Lewiston, ME, 04240, USA

    Donald C. Dearborn

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  1. Eileen A. Kennedy
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  2. Christine R. Lattin
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  3. L. Michael Romero
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  4. Donald C. Dearborn
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Correspondence to Donald C. Dearborn.

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Communicated by J. A. Graves

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Kennedy, E.A., Lattin, C.R., Romero, L.M. et al. Feather coloration in museum specimens is related to feather corticosterone. Behav Ecol Sociobiol 67, 341–348 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00265-012-1454-9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00265-012-1454-9

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