Corticosterone predicts nocturnal restlessness in a long-distance migrant

The decision made by migrating birds to stop refueling and to depart from stopover depends on cues from innate rhythms, intrinsic factors such as fuel reserves, and extrinsic factors such as weather conditions. The physiological mechanism behind this decision, however, is largely unexplored. The transition from refueling to flight involves an increase in both locomotion and energetic demands. Because, at baseline levels, corticosterone stimulates locomotion and is involved in the mobilization of energy, this hormone could encourage departure of migrants. We collected field data on baseline corticosterone, migratory restlessness, and actual departure in northern wheatears at stopover. Additionally, in refueling long-term captive conspecifics, we measured migratory restlessness while simultaneously collecting droppings to determine glucocorticoid metabolite (GCM) levels. We found that migratory restlessness at stopover was positively correlated with corticosterone level. Similarly, in refueling long-term captive birds, migratory restlessness was positively correlated with concurrently measured GCM levels in droppings. To our best knowledge, our study is the first to simultaneously measure a hormonal signal and migratory restlessness. In conclusion, our results are consistent with the hypothesis that, by increasing locomotor activity, baseline corticosterone is involved in the regulation of departure of migrants at stopover. Future studies could reveal how corticosterone is up-regulated in migrants that are ready to depart.