Journal of Ornithology

, Volume 146, Issue 4, pp 332–337 | Cite as

Food cues and gonadal development in neotropical spotted antbirds (Hylophylax naevioides)

Original Article
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Abstract

Most temperate-zone birds live in environments with a regular seasonality, and primarily use the long-term changes in photoperiod as a cue to initiate gonadal development in anticipation of the breeding season. Short-term cues such as food and temperature are later used to fine-tune the rate of gonadal development to local conditions. Many tropical habitats are seasonal, but the timing of the seasons (e.g., rainy season) can vary considerably between years. We hypothesize that to time breeding in environments with seasonal variability, tropical birds respond to both long-term and short-term environmental cues to initiate gonadal growth. We tested the effectiveness of photoperiod and food cues for the initiation of gonad growth in captive male spotted antbirds (Hylophylax n. naevioides) from Panama. A ‘control’ group was maintained on the short natural photoperiod of 12 h light and 12 h dark (LD 12:12) and adequate food. A ‘food-stimulated’ group was also held on LD 12:12 but received an increase in food quantity and quality. A ‘photo+food-stimulated’ group experienced an increase in daylength by 1 h (LD 13:11, the maximal photoperiod in Panama) and an increase in food quantity and quality. Within 3 weeks testis sizes of ‘food-stimulated’ birds increased significantly, suggesting that food cues alone can initiate gonad development. As expected from the previous experiment, testis sizes of ‘photo+food-stimulated’ birds, but not ‘control’ birds, also increased. We suggest that the capability to respond to both food and photoperiodic cues allows animal the flexibility to adjust reproductive activity to variable environmental conditions each year. Future work should elucidate whether food provides nutritional or non-nutritional cues, and the neurophysiological mechanisms by which food stimulates reproductive activity.

Keywords

Food cues Environmental seasonality Reproduction Tropical bird Photoperiod 
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Notes

Acknowledgements

This manuscript is dedicated to the memory of Ebo Gwinner, an outstanding scientist who has been a wonderful friend and mentor to us. Many thanks to J. Touchton, Umberto and Andres for expert field and lab assistance, and Armstrong Cricket Farm, West Monroe, LA, for reliably shipping insects to Panama. The Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, in particular M. Leone, O. Arosemena, M. Fernandez and R. Urriola provided invaluable logistical support. L. Spinney, L. Martin, M. Wikelski, B. Walker, G. Bentley, N. Perfito and C. Hess provided constructive comments on previous versions of the manuscript. The research reported here was performed under guidelines established by the University of Illinois Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee. This material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation under grant no. IBN-0196297 to M.H.

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Copyright information

© Dt. Ornithologen-Gesellschaft e.V. 2005

Authors and Affiliations

  1. 1.School of Integrative BiologyUniversity of IllinoisChampaign/UrbanaILUSA
  2. 2.Department of Ecology and Evolutionary BiologyPrinceton UniversityPrincetonUSA
  3. 3.Department of ZoologyUniversity of WashingtonSeattleUSA

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