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Size of ornament is negatively correlated with baseline corticosterone in males of a socially monogamous colonial seabird

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Abstract

The Goymann–Wingfield model predicts that glucocorticoid levels in social animals reflect the costs of acquiring and maintaining social status. The crested auklet is one of the few avian colonial species where a mutual ornament in males and females is used in both sexual and aggressive displays. Previous studies of the crested auklet support the notion that the crest ornament is a badge of status in this species. Here, we examined the relationship between the crest ornament size and the adrenocortical function in breeding crested auklets. Crest length was negatively correlated with corticosterone at baseline in males, but not in females. Baseline corticosterone in females (but not in males) was negatively correlated with body condition index. Although male and female crested auklets are monomorphic in their ornamental traits, our results suggest that the socially mediated physiological costs associated with status signaling may differ between the sexes.

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Acknowledgments

Funding came from the Eppley Foundation for Research, Inc.; the Angus Gavin Memorial Bird Research Fund, University of Alaska Foundation; Center for Global Change and Arctic System Research and Alaska Sea Grant College Program; and the University of Washington. A. M. Springer, J. Galvin and J. C. Wingfield helped support this research. The Alaska Maritime National Wildlife Refuge and the Aleut Corporation granted permission to conduct research at Big Koniuji I. M. Benowitz-Fredericks, E. Murphy, C. Williams, S. Wang and several anonymous reviewers provided helpful comments on the manuscript. This research complied with applicable laws of Alaska and the USA.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Marine Science, University of Alaska Fairbanks, Fairbanks, AK, 99775, USA

    Hector D. Douglas III

  2. Biology Department, Kuskokwim Campus, CRCD, University of Alaska Fairbanks, Bethel, AK, 99559, USA

    Hector D. Douglas III

  3. Institute of Arctic Biology, University of Alaska Fairbanks, Fairbanks, AK, 99775, USA

    Alexander S. Kitaysky & Evgenia V. Kitaiskaia

  4. Division of Environmental and Evolutionary Biology, Institute of Biomedical and Life Sciences, Graham Kerr Building, University of Glasgow, Glasgow, G12 8QQ, UK

    Aidan Maccormick

  5. Department of Animal Physiology, University of Bayreuth, 95440, Bayreuth, Germany

    Anke Kelly

  6. Biology Department, Brandeis University, Waltham, MA, 02454, USA

    Anke Kelly

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  1. Hector D. Douglas III
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  2. Alexander S. Kitaysky
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  3. Evgenia V. Kitaiskaia
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  4. Aidan Maccormick
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Correspondence to Hector D. Douglas III.

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Communicated by H.V. Carey.

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Douglas, H.D., Kitaysky, A.S., Kitaiskaia, E.V. et al. Size of ornament is negatively correlated with baseline corticosterone in males of a socially monogamous colonial seabird. J Comp Physiol B 179, 297–304 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00360-008-0312-6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00360-008-0312-6

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