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Carotenoid-based plumage colouration is associated with blood parasite richness and stress protein levels in blue tits (Cyanistes caeruleus)

  • Physiological ecology - Original paper
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Abstract

Carotenoids are molecules that birds are not able to synthesize and therefore, must be acquired through their diet. These pigments, besides their function of giving birds red and yellow colouration when deposited in feathers, seem to act as immune-stimulators and antioxidants in the organism. Hence, only the healthiest individuals would be able to express carotenoid-based ornaments to a larger extent without compromising the physiological functions of carotenoids. Various studies have reported that birds infected by parasites are paler than those uninfected, but, to our knowledge, none of them has assessed the possible effect of multiple infections by blood parasites on plumage colour. By comparing the yellow colour in the breast plumage of blue tits, Cyanistes caeruleus, between birds infected by different numbers of blood parasite genera, we found that those birds infected by more than one genus were paler than those parasitized just by one. In addition, we examined the potential role of carotenoid-based plumage colour of blue tits as a long-term indicator of other parameters of health status, such as body condition and immunoglobulin and heat shock protein (HSP) levels. Our results indicate that more brightly coloured birds had lower HSP70 levels than paler birds, but we did not find any significant association between colour and body condition or immunoglobulin levels. In addition, we found a positive significant association between Haemoproteus density of infection and HSP60 levels. Overall, these results support the role of carotenoid-based colours as indicators of health status in blue tits and show detrimental effects of parasitism on this character.

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Acknowledgments

We thank Javier Donés (Director of Montes de Valsaín) for permission to work in the study area. The Junta de Castilla y León authorized the ringing and handling of birds. This study was funded by projects BOS2003-05724 and CGL2006-14129-C02-01 of the Ministerio de Educación y Ciencia (to S. M.) and CGL2007-61251 (to J. Moreno). The authors thank Sonia Aracil for their help in the lab. S. d. C., J.-M. P. and R. R. d. C. are supported by grants from the Comunidad de Madrid, El Ventorrillo-CSIC and JAE-CSIC respectively. J. Morales is supported by a postdoctoral grant from the Ministerio de Ciencia y Tecnología. E. L. was supported by a FPU grant from MEC. G. T. was supported at different stages by a FPI grant from the Comunidad de Madrid, an I3P postdoctoral contract from CSIC and a postdoctoral grant from UNAM. J.-R. A. is not supported by any grant. This study is a contribution to the research developed at El Ventorrillo Field station and complies with current Spanish laws.

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  1. Departamento de Ecología Evolutiva, Museo Nacional de Ciencias Naturales (CSIC), C/José Gutiérrez Abascal 2, Madrid, Spain

    Sara del Cerro, Santiago Merino, Josué Martínez-de la Puente, Elisa Lobato, Rafael Ruiz-de-Castañeda, Juan Rivero-de Aguilar & Juan Moreno

  2. Departamento de Microbiología y Parasitología, Facultad de Farmacia, Universidad de Alcalá, Alcalá de Henares, Spain

    Javier Martínez

  3. Departamento de Ecoloxía e Bioloxía Animal, Facultade de Ciencias, Universidade de Vigo, Pontevedra, Spain

    Judith Morales

  4. Departamento de Ecología Evolutiva, Instituto de Ecología, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, México, D.F., México

    Gustavo Tomás

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  1. Sara del Cerro
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  2. Santiago Merino
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Correspondence to Sara del Cerro.

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Communicated by Heli Siitari.

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del Cerro, S., Merino, S., Martínez-de la Puente, J. et al. Carotenoid-based plumage colouration is associated with blood parasite richness and stress protein levels in blue tits (Cyanistes caeruleus). Oecologia 162, 825–835 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00442-009-1510-y

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