The role of testosterone in regulating the movement behaviours of juvenile migrant songbirds


SOCIETY FOR INTEGRATIVE AND COMPARATIVE BIOLOGY
2021 VIRTUAL ANNUAL MEETING (VAM)
January 3 – Febuary 28, 2021

Meeting Abstract


30-6  Sat Jan 2  The role of testosterone in regulating the movement behaviours of juvenile migrant songbirds Casbourn, GW*; Posliff, C; Henry, C; MacDougall-Shackleton, E; MacDougall-Shackleton, S; University of Western Ontario, London; University of Western Ontario, London; University of Western Ontario, London; University of Western Ontario, London; University of Western Ontario, London gcasbour@uwo.ca

The post-fledging period is a critical stage in the life of a juvenile migrant songbird. Juveniles must develop their foraging skills, as well as the flight, navigation, and orientation skills that will allow them to make their first migration. Movement across the landscape is critical to developing all of these skills, and there is likely individual variation in the propensity to move. Testosterone is related to individual differences in migration distance in adult sparrows, but it has not been studied in the context of other movement behaviours. This study used juvenile Song Sparrows (Melospiza melodia) to investigate the relationships among movement propensity in a novel environment, juvenile prospecting movements, and testosterone profile. Testosterone profile is here defined as the maximal level of circulating testosterone produced in response to an injection of GnRH. We introduced fledged, free-living juvenile birds to an artificial chamber (2.4 x 2.4 x 1.8 m) containing 5 artificial trees, and recorded activity for 10 minutes as an index of exploration behaviour. Following this, we injected birds with GnRH to trigger a surge in circulating testosterone, and collected blood samples 30 minutes post-injection. Finally, we radiotagged birds for 2-4 weeks to assess prospecting movements. Our findings will thus test for a relationship between individuals’ movement/exploration propensity within a novel environment and on the natal landscape, and individual regulation of testosterone.

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