Traffic noise affects embryo mortality and nestling growth rates in captive zebra finches

Abstract

Over the past two decades, studies of songbird populations have detected decreases in the reproductive success of individuals living in urban areas. Anthropogenic noise is considered to be particularly detrimental, however the exact relationship between noise and reproductive success is still unclear because noise is often correlated with many other detrimental factors (e.g., predation, reduced territory quality). We used an experiment to specifically test the effects of urban noise on reproduction of captive zebra finches (Taeniopygia guttata). We found that latency to breed and the size of successfully fledged clutches were consistent between groups, however success of initial nesting attempts was reduced by traffic noise. Further, this reduced success leading to increased numbers of nesting attempts by birds in the noise condition was due to higher levels of embryo mortality in the traffic noise treatment group, which also suffered a lag in nestling growth rates during the first two weeks post-hatch. While parental baseline circulating corticosterone was not chronically affected by noise treatment, we identified some interaction effects whereby certain reproductive measures (laying latency and clutch size) were most strongly affected by treatment when mothers had higher levels of baseline corticosterone. These results indicate that traffic noise may reduce reproductive success through changes in parental behaviour, and that traffic noise may disproportionately affect chronically stressed individuals during reproduction. J. Exp. Zool. 323A: 722-730, 2015. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Zebra finches show spatial avoidance of near but not far distance traffic noise

“…Without being able to pinpoint down the lowest threshold of negative impact yet, the combined evidence from our and other studies suggests that for sound levels from 70 dB(A) and higher (<15 m to the highway), traffic noise may affect communication, foraging, physiology and reproduction (Cynx et al, 1998;Potvin & MacDougall-Shackleton, 2015;Potvin et al, 2016;Villain et al, 2016;Dorado-Correa et al, 2018). Wild birds of other species that were chronically exposed to anthropogenic noise were found to have altered glucocorticoid levels (Kleist et al, 2018; but see Crino et al, 2013), which in turn will raise energy demands (Jimeno et al, 2018).…”

“…In the experiment, the tested birds avoided noisy conditions to move into a quieter space. This behaviour would confer an advantage outside the laboratory as complementary research in zebra finches has already shown that noise negatively impacts zebra finches: it increases vigilance reducing food uptake during foraging (Evans et al, 2018), affects intra-pair communication (Villain et al, 2016), offspring initial growth rates (Potvin & MacDougall-Shackleton, 2015), reduces telomere length (Dorado-Correa et al, 2018) and affects song learning (Funabiki & Funabiki, 2009;Potvin et al, 2016).…”

“…To test whether noise becomes so aversive that it affects spatial preferences requires testing paradigms that allow individuals to choose among identical locations only differing in noise characteristics as well as suitable model species. Domesticated zebra finches and other related estrildid finches have already been successfully studied in experiments investigating the effect of masking noise on their vocal communication (Cynx et al, 1998;Tumer & Brainard, 2007;Potvin & MacDougall-Shackleton, 2015;Villain et al, 2016;Tachibana et al, 2017). These studies, however, passively exposed birds to noise without offering quiet(er) alternative spaces.…”

Negative impact of urban noise on sexual receptivity and clutch size in female domestic canaries

“…An experimental study carried out in laboratory conditions reported no impact of urban noise on reproductive output in the zebra finch Taeniopygia guttata . However, females in the noisy condition made more nesting attempts and laid more eggs but had a lower hatching success due to higher embryo mortality (Potvin & MacDougall‐Shackleton, ). In the domestic sparrow Passer domesticus, one study failed to find a noise impact either on the clutch size or on the number of fledglings (Meillère, Brischoux, & Angelier, ) while a different one has shown experimentally that urban noise had a negative impact on the condition of nestlings and the number of fledged young (Schroeder, Nakagawa, Cleasby, & Burke, ).…”

“…An experimental study carried out in laboratory conditions reported no impact of urban noise on reproductive output in the zebra finch Taeniopygia guttata. However, females in the noisy condition made more nesting attempts and laid more eggs but had a lower hatching success due to higher embryo mortality (Potvin & MacDougall-Shackleton, 2015). In the domestic sparrow…”