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Prenatal environmental effects match offspring begging to parental provisioning
Camilla A Hinde1, Katherine L Buchanan, Rebecca M Kilner
1Department of Zoology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge CB2 3EJ, UK. cah33@cam.ac.uk
Proceedings. Biological Sciences
|May 8, 2009
Summary
Canary chicks adapt begging behavior before hatching through prenatal androgen exposure. This allows offspring to match parental provisioning, optimizing survival in variable environments.
Area of Science:
- Animal Behavior
- Evolutionary Biology
- Endocrinology
Background:
- Offspring solicitation behaviors are shaped by parental and ecological factors.
- Prenatal environmental conditions can influence postnatal development and behavior.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate how prenatal mechanisms enable canary nestlings to adjust begging behavior to post-hatching conditions.
- To determine the role of androgens in mediating environmentally induced plasticity in parental and offspring traits.
Main Methods:
- Cross-fostering experiments with canary nestlings.
- Experimental manipulation of food quality for parent birds.
- Measurement of faecal androgen levels in parents and nestlings.
- Correlation analysis between parental provisioning, androgens, and nestling begging intensity.
Main Results:
- Nestling begging intensity positively correlated with parental provisioning levels.
- Increased maternal food quality led to higher androgen levels in both mothers and nestlings (even after cross-fostering).
- Prenatal androgen levels in nestlings predicted their begging intensity, linking parental and offspring traits.
Conclusions:
- Androgens mediate environmentally induced plasticity in parental and offspring traits before hatching.
- Prenatal androgen effects ensure offspring begging intensity aligns with family and ecological conditions.
- Canary offspring adapt solicitation behaviors to environmental variability through prenatal androgen-mediated mechanisms.
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