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Intraclutch variation in avian eggshell pigmentation: the anaemia hypothesis

  • Physiological Ecology - Original Research
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Abstract

Many passerine species lay eggs that are speckled with dark protoporphyrin pigmentation. Because protoporphyrin is mainly derived from the blood, we here formulate and test a new hypothesis that links an increase in anaemia along the laying sequence to within-clutch variation in egg pigmentation. More intense pigmentation is expected if pigments accumulate during enhanced red blood cell production in response to anaemia. Reduced pigmentation is expected if pigments are derived from the degradation of red blood cells that circulate in smaller numbers due to blood loss. To test this hypothesis, we manipulated anaemia in great tit (Parus major) females by infesting the nests with hen fleas (Ceratophyllus gallinae) prior to egg laying. Polychromatophil (i.e., immature red blood cells) percentage, as a measure of blood cell production, was positively correlated with parasite load confirming that female great tits experienced stronger anaemia when infested with haematophagous parasites during egg laying. We found a positive relationship between spot darkness and laying order that weakened under high parasite load. This result suggests that anaemia in females due to blood-sucking parasites led to diminished protoporphyrin from disintegrated red blood cells and hence a decreased deposition of protoporphyrin. However, the overall increase in pigment darkness along the laying sequence suggests that pigments also accumulate by enhanced red blood cell production caused by anaemia due to egg production itself.

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Acknowledgments

We are grateful to A. d’Ursel and A. Beck for allowing us access to the forest, H. Matheve for help during fieldwork, D. Vercayie and F. Philips for scoring egg pigmentation, and Angelica Alcántara-Exposito for blood cell counts. We also thank D. Hanley and an anonymous reviewer for the most valuable comments that improved our paper considerably. This study was carried out with permission from the Animal Ethics Committee of Ghent University (ECP 08/05). G.D.C. was financially supported by a doctoral grant and by FWO research community WO.037.10 N from the Research Foundation Flanders (FWO).

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  1. Department of Biology, Terrestrial Ecology Unit, Ghent University, K.L. Ledeganckstraat 35, 9000, Ghent, Belgium

    Greet De Coster, Liesbeth De Neve & Luc Lens

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  1. Greet De Coster
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  2. Liesbeth De Neve
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  3. Luc Lens
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Correspondence to Greet De Coster.

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Communicated by Oliver Love.

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De Coster, G., De Neve, L. & Lens, L. Intraclutch variation in avian eggshell pigmentation: the anaemia hypothesis. Oecologia 170, 297–304 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00442-012-2304-1

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