Testosterone and sexual signalling in male house sparrows (Passer domesticus)

González, Guillermo; Sorci, Gabriele; Smith, Linda C.; Lope, Florentino de

doi:10.1007/s002650100399

Cited by 115 publications

(68 citation statements)

References 37 publications

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“…During the procedures described here, 13 of 104 birds (12.5%) died for unknown reasons, 7 of them within the first week after capture; this rate of mortality is within the range (3.3-38.5%) reported by other studies of captive sparrows (e.g. Gonzalez et al 2001;Poston et al 2005;B okony et al 2012a). Although the weight and apparent condition of these birds was normal at capture, our subsequent physiological analyses suggested that at least some of them were already in poor health (see B okony et al 2014 for details).…”

Section: Methodssupporting

confidence: 71%

Does Innovation Success Influence Social Interactions? An Experimental Test in House Sparrows

et al. 2015

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In group‐living animals, individuals may benefit from the presence of an innovative group‐mate because new resources made available by innovators can be exploited, for example by scrounging or social learning. As a consequence, it may pay off to take the group‐mates' problem‐solving abilities into account in social interactions such as aggression or spatial association, for example because dominance over an innovative group‐mate can increase scrounging success, while spatial proximity may increase the chance of both direct exploitation and social learning. In this study, we tested whether the individuals' innovation success influences their social interactions with group‐mates in small captive flocks of house sparrows (Passer domesticus). First, we measured the birds' actual problem‐solving success in individual food‐extracting tasks. Then, we manipulated their apparent problem‐solving success in one task (by allowing or not allowing them to open a feeder repeatedly) while a new, unfamiliar group‐member (focal individual) had the opportunity to witness their performance. After this manipulation, we observed the frequency and intensity of aggression and the frequency of spatial associations between the focal individuals and their manipulated flock‐mates. Although flock‐mates behaved according to their treatments during manipulations, their apparent problem‐solving success did not affect significantly the focal individuals' agonistic behaviour or spatial associations. These results do not support that sparrows take flock‐mates' problem‐solving abilities into account during social interactions. However, focal individuals attacked those flock‐mates more frequently that had higher actual problem‐solving success (not witnessed directly by the focal individuals), although aggression intensity and spatial association by the focal birds were unrelated to the flock‐mates' actual success. If this association between flock‐mates' actual innovativeness and focal individuals' aggression is not due to confounding effects, it may imply that house sparrows can use more subtle cues to assess the group‐mates' problem‐solving ability than direct observation of their performance in simple foraging tasks.

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Section: Methodssupporting

confidence: 71%

Does Innovation Success Influence Social Interactions? An Experimental Test in House Sparrows

et al. 2015

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“…Alternatively, contest-independent costs can arise if badges are androgen-based traits, and if androgens reduce immunocompentence (Folstad & Karter 1992;Johnstone & Norris 1993). The importance of testosterone in the expression of secondary sexual traits in male house sparrows has recently been emphasised (Evans et al 2000;Gonzalez et al 2001). Similarly, negative correlations between badge size and immune parameters have been reported in male house sparrows, although only under certain circumstances (see Møller et al 1996;Gonzalez et al 1999a,b).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…For instance, it has been suggested that badge production and aggression might be controlled by the level of circulating androgens in the blood (e.g. Johnstone & Norris 1993;Evans et al 2000;Gonzalez et al 2001). Given that androgens are supposed to have an immunosuppressive effect, only individuals in good condition could afford to pay this contest-independent cost of aggression (Johnstone & Norris 1993).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Social Control and Physiological Cost of Cheating in Status Signalling Male House Sparrows (Passer domesticus)

et al. 2002

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Flock‐forming passerines often use plumage characteristics to signal their social dominance. While the benefits to signal dominance seem obvious, costs associated with status signalling are ambiguous. The social control hypothesis predicts that individuals of high social status – with large badges – are involved in more social interactions with individuals of similar badge size. Cheaters are therefore exposed to increased risk of fighting with high quality individuals and the costs associated with enhanced fights with dominant males are supposed to outweigh the benefits of cheating. We tested the social control hypothesis in male house sparrows (Passer domesticus), by observing social interactions in captive flocks and determining dominance relationships. Two low status individuals within each flock had the size of their badge experimentally increased and the interactions involving experimental and control birds were recorded. We also assessed the potential physiological cost of cheating in terms of enhanced levels of the stress hormone, corticosterone. Dominance was significantly positively correlated with badge size, but not with other morphological traits. We found little support for the social control hypothesis. Birds did not have significantly more interactions with individuals of similar badge size, before the manipulation. Similarly, after the experimental increase in badge size, experimental birds did not tend to have more encounters with large‐badged males. Experimental birds with enlarged badges won more fights compared with prior to the manipulation, suggesting that badge size is used as a signal of social dominance even in small and stable flocks. Finally, corticosterone levels in the blood did not increase significantly after the manipulation of badge size, suggesting that there is no measurable cost, resulting from stress, in cheaters.

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“…Testosterone extraction was performed according to the standard method used for plasma samples (Lormée et al 2000), a technique that can be used to extract testosterone from small amounts of egg yolk (Mazuc et al 2003). The determination of testosterone concentration in egg yolk and in plasma follows standard radioimmunoassay techniques (Lormée et al 2000;Gonzalez et al 2001;Mazuc et al 2003). Testosterone was quantified using duplicates in a single assay for plasma samples and two assays for egg yolk.…”

Section: Testosterone Assays In Plasma and Eggsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Social environment affects female and egg testosterone levels in the house sparrow (Passer domesticus)

et al. 2003

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Maternal effects can have an adaptive value if they improve the performance of offspring. As such, the transfer of maternal testosterone (T) to the eggs has been suggested as a mechanism for adaptive maternal control of offspring phenotype in birds, although recent studies have shown negative effects of testosterone on hatching rate and chick survival. Here, we experimentally investigated whether socially stressful conditions experienced by female house sparrows during egg laying affected their circulating levels of androgens and the amount transferred to the eggs. Social stress was simulated by the intrusion of a foreign male placed near the nest box during the egg‐laying sequence. We found that (1) both female and yolk testosterone titres were positively related to breeding density; (2) yolk testosterone was negatively correlated with maternal testosterone; (3) yolk testosterone was positively correlated with the behavioural response of females towards the intruder and (4) the interaction between social intrusion and breeding density affected the amount of testosterone transferred to the eggs. Altogether, our results suggest that females may be able to modulate the amount of testosterone they allocate to their eggs according to the social environment they experience during egg laying.

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Testosterone and sexual signalling in male house sparrows (Passer domesticus)

Cited by 115 publications

References 37 publications

Does Innovation Success Influence Social Interactions? An Experimental Test in House Sparrows

Does Innovation Success Influence Social Interactions? An Experimental Test in House Sparrows

Social Control and Physiological Cost of Cheating in Status Signalling Male House Sparrows (Passer domesticus)

Social environment affects female and egg testosterone levels in the house sparrow (Passer domesticus)

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