Female-Based Patterns and Social Function in Avian Chemical Communication
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REVIEW ARTICLE
Female-Based Patterns and Social Function in Avian Chemical Communication Danielle J. Whittaker 1
&
Julie C. Hagelin 2
Received: 23 June 2020 / Revised: 18 September 2020 / Accepted: 20 October 2020 # Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature 2020
Abstract Much of the growing interest in avian chemical signals has focused on the role of kin recognition or mate attraction, often with an emphasis on males, with uropygial gland secretions perhaps providing information about an individual’s identity and quality. Yet, data collected to date suggest sexual dimorphism in uropygial glands and secretions are often emphasized in female, rather than in male birds. That is, when a sexual difference occurs (often during the breeding season only), it is the female that typically exhibits one of three patterns: (1) a larger uropygial gland, (2) a greater abundance of volatile or semi-volatile preen oil compounds and/or (3) greater diversity of preen oil compounds or associated microbes. These patterns fit a majority of birds studied to date (23 of 30 chemically dimorphic species exhibit a female emphasis). Multiple species that do not fit are confounded by a lack of data for seasonal effects or proper quantitative measures of chemical compounds. We propose several social functions for these secretions in female-based patterns, similar to those reported in mammals, but which are largely unstudied in birds. These include: (1) intersexual advertisement of female receptivity or quality, including priming effects on male physiology, (2) intrasexual competition, including scent marking and reproductive suppression or (3) parental behaviors, such as parent-offspring recognition and chemical protection of eggs and nestlings. Revisiting the gaps of chemical studies to quantify the existence of female social chemosignals and any fitness benefit(s) during breeding are potentially fruitful but overlooked areas of future research. Keywords Birds . Dimorphism . Uropygial gland . Preen oil . Chemical signals . Kin recognition
Introduction Until relatively recently, most birds were thought to have a poor sense of smell, due to their relatively small olfactory bulbs, lack of a vomeronasal system, and emphasis on acoustic and visual communication (Roper 1999). However, numerous studies in recent decades have demonstrated the importance of chemical communication in avian behavior (reviewed in Balthazart and Taziaux 2009; Campagna et al. 2012; Caro et al. 2015; Hagelin and Jones 2007). Research has focused primarily on testing the ability of birds to detect conspecific
* Danielle J. Whittaker [email protected] 1
BEACON Center for the Study of Evolution in Action, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI 48824, USA
2
Institute of Arctic Biology, University of Alaska Fairbanks, Fairbanks, AK 99775, USA
chemical substances (e.g., Bonadonna and Nevitt 2004; Krause et al. 2012; Whittaker et al. 2011a), as well as deciphering potential information within the substances (e.g., Grieves et al. 2018; Mardon et a
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