Lack of seasonal and moult-related stress modulation in an opportunistically breeding bird: The white-plumed honeyeater (Lichenostomus penicillatus).

This article is part of a Special Issue "SBN 2014". In most vertebrate species, glucocorticoid levels and stress sensitivity vary in relation to season and life-history stage. In birds, baseline corticosterone (CORT) and stress sensitivity are typically highest while breeding and decrease substantially during moult. Because elevated CORT adversely affects protein synthesis, moult-related CORT suppression is thought to be necessary for forming high-quality feathers. Surprisingly, some passerine species lack moult-related CORT suppression, but these are distinguished by having slow rates of moult and being opportunistic breeders. We examined baseline and stress-induced CORT levels in an opportunistically breeding Australian passerine, the white-plumed honeyeater (Lichenostomus penicillatus). Although this species has a slower moult rate than high-latitude breeders, it differs little from north-temperate passerines. Neither baseline nor stress-induced CORT levels varied with season (winter, spring or summer), sex or moult status in adult birds. While breeding tended to be highest in early spring through late summer, laparotomies revealed only limited reduction in testicular size in males the year round. In all but one sampling period, at least some females displayed follicular hierarchy. Breeding usually coincides with outbreaks of phytophagous insects, which can happen at any time of the year. This results in moult/breeding overlap when infestations occur in late spring or summer. The ability of this species to moult and breed at the same time while having breeding-levels of CORT demonstrates that CORT suppression is not a prerequisite for synthesis of high-quality feathers. An experimental design incorporating moulting and non-moulting phenotypes is suggested to test the functional significance of CORT suppression in other species.

Buttemer WA ，Addison BA ，Astheimer LB 《-》

Inexplicable inefficiency of avian molt? Insights from an opportunistically breeding arid-zone species, Lichenostomus penicillatus.

Hoye BJ ，Buttemer WA 《PLoS One》

The effects of long-distance migration on the evolution of moult strategies in Western-Palearctic passerines.

Although feathers are the unifying characteristic of all birds, our understanding of the causes, mechanisms, patterns and consequences of the feather moult process lags behind that of other major avian life-history phenomena such as reproduction and long-distance migration. Migration, which evolved in many species of the temperate and arctic zones, requires high energy expenditure to endure long-distance journeys. About a third of Western-Palearctic passerines perform long-distance migrations of thousands of kilometres each year using various morphological, physiological, biomechanical, behavioural and life-history adaptations. The need to include the largely non-overlapping breeding, long-distance migration and feather moult processes within the annual cycle imposes a substantial constraint on the time over which the moult process can take place. Here, we review four feather-moult-related adaptations which, likely due to time constraints, evolved among long-distance Western-Palearctic migrants: (i) increased moult speed; (ii) increased overlap between moult and breeding or migration; (iii) decreased extent of plumage moult; and (iv) moult of part or all of the plumage during the over-wintering period in the tropics rather than in the breeding areas. We suggest that long-distance migration shaped the evolution of moult strategies and increased the diversity of these strategies among migratory passerines. In contrast to this variation, all resident passerines in the Western Palearctic moult immediately after breeding by renewing the entire plumage of adults and in some species also juveniles, while in other species juvenile moult is partial. We identify important gaps in our current understanding of the moult process that should be addressed in the future. Notably, previous studies suggested that the ancestral moult strategy is a post-breeding summer moult in the Western Palearctic breeding areas and that moult during the winter evolved due to the scheduling of long-distance migration immediately after breeding. We offer an alternative hypothesis based on the notion of southern ancestry, proposing that the ancestral moult strategy was a complete moult during the 'northern winter' in the Afro-tropical region in these species, for both adults and juveniles. An important aspect of the observed variation in moult strategies relates to their control mechanisms and we suggest that there is insufficient knowledge regarding the physiological mechanisms that are involved, and whether they are genetically fixed or shaped by environmental factors. Finally, research effort is needed on how global climate changes may influence avian annual routines by altering the scheduling of major processes such as long-distance migration and feather moult.

Kiat Y ，Izhaki I ，Sapir N 《-》

Corticosterone mediated costs of reproduction link current to future breeding.

Life-history theory predicts that costs are associated with reproduction. One possible mediator of costs involves the secretion of glucocorticoid hormones, which in birds can be measured in feathers grown during the breeding period. Glucocorticoids mediate physiological responses to unpredictable environmental or other stressors, but they can also function as metabolic regulators during more predictable events such as reproduction. Here we show that corticosterone ("Cort") in feathers grown during the breeding season reflects reproductive effort in two Antarctic seabird species (giant petrels, Macronectes spp.). In females of both species, but not males, feather Cort ("fCort") was nearly 1.5-fold higher in successful than failed breeders (those that lost their eggs/chicks), suggesting a cost of successful reproduction, i.e., high fCort levels in females reflect the elevated plasma Cort levels required to support high metabolic demands of chick-rearing. Successful breeding also led to delayed moult prior to winter migration. The fCort levels and pre-migration moult score that we measured at the end of current breeding were predictive of subsequent reproductive effort in the following year. Birds with high fCort and a delayed initiation of moult were much more likely to defer breeding in the following year. Cort levels and the timing of moult thus provide a potential mechanism for the tradeoff between current and future reproduction.

Crossin GT ，Phillips RA ，Lattin CR ，Romero LM ，Williams TD ... -  《-》

Geographic variation in factors that influence timing of moult and breeding in waterfowl.

Waterfowl flight-feather moult is expected to occur when energy is not needed for breeding and when a suitable safe habitat is available. Flight-feather regrowth is an energetically costly stage in the annual cycle of waterfowls. In this study, we tested the hypothesis that moult will coincide with the time of year when food and aquatic habitats are most abundant. We investigated how the timing of rainfall relates to the timing of breeding and flight-feather moult in five common southern African waterfowl at two sites in South Africa with opposite rainfall regimes (one summer, one winter). We then incorporated published data to compare and contrast the relative timing of breeding and moult in southern hemisphere (southern African and Australian) waterfowl with northern hemisphere (European and North American) species. Our results showed that southern African waterfowl breed in the wet season and moult during the dry season. Tadorna cana was an exception, breeding in the dry season and moulting during the wet season in the summer-rainfall area. There was also a long lag period between peak breeding and peak moult in southern hemisphere waterfowl species, the longest lag being that of birds in the summer-rainfall area. By comparison, northern hemisphere waterfowl species breed and moult during the warm season, with a shorter lag period between peak breeding and peak moult compared to southern hemisphere species. We concluded that waterfowl in southern Africa (with the exception of T. cana), southeast Australia, Europe and North America time their breeding period to coincide with peaks in the availability of both food and breeding sites. Northern hemisphere species moult where chances of predation are low, when temperatures are warm, and before food and aquatic habitats approach their winter minima. By contrast, southern hemisphere waterfowl delay the onset of moult until the dry season, opting to moult when both food and aquatic moulting habitats are scarce.

Ndlovu M ，Hockey PAR ，Cumming GS 《-》