Chemical kin label in seabirds

Abstract

).Chemical signals yield critical socio-ecological information in many animals, such as species, identity, social status or sex, but have been poorly investigated in birds. Recent results showed that chemical signals are used to recognize their nest and partner by some petrel seabirds whose olfactory anatomy is well developed and which possess a life-history propitious to olfactory-mediated behaviours. Here, we investigate whether blue petrels (Halobaena caerulea) produce some chemical labels potentially involved in kin recognition and inbreeding avoidance. To overcome methodological constraints of chemical analysis and field behavioural experiments, we used an indirect behavioural approach, based on mice olfactory abilities in discriminating odours. We showed that mice (i) can detect odour differences between individual petrels, (ii) perceive a high odour similarity between a chick and its parents, and (iii) perceive this similarity only before fledging but not during the nestling developmental stage. Our results confirm the existence of an individual olfactory signature in blue petrels and show for the first time, to our knowledge, that birds may exhibit an olfactory kin label, which may have strong implications for inbreeding avoidance.

Major histocompatibility complex class II compatibility, but not class I, predicts mate choice in a bird with highly developed olfaction

“…rodents [59,60]. Also the olfactory driven avoidance of self and preference for others, that were shown experimentally in the blue petrel [35], may well be mediated by MHC-dependent odour cues, especially since related individuals that de facto share more MHC alleles, smell more alike than unrelated individuals [61]. MHC-dependent odours have been suggested to indicate kinship also in e.g.…”

Olfactory kin recognition in a songbird

“…A potential olfactory kin label has very recently been documented in petrels (Halobaena caerulea) [23], in which mice were used to demonstrate the similarity of odours from closely related petrel individuals, but no ecologically relevant evidence of actual usage and perception of these cues has been provided. One potential reason for the use of olfaction in zebra finches might be to detect extra-pair paternity or conspecific brood parasitism, but this selection pressure is likely to be negligible, as extra-pair paternity is relatively rare, as is the frequency of egg dumping [24,25].…”

The perfume of reproduction in birds: Chemosignaling in avian social life

“…Chemical signals emitted by birds have also been suggested to encompass information specific to individuals, such as genetic make-up (Celerier et al, 2011; Leclaire et al, 2011) and reproductive success (Amo et al, 2012a; Whittaker et al, 2013). Identification and interpretation of individual odor signatures by conspecifics would be highly interesting in a mate-choice context, as it would open the door to recognition mechanisms of indices of individual quality, and of potential relatedness (kin recognition), that are of primary interest when choosing a mate.…”

“…Mice have been used in experiments where they were asked to discriminate between odors sampled on birds (Celerier et al, 2011; Karlsson et al, 2010). The conclusion of these studies was that mice can discriminate olfactory and kin signatures in birds.…”