Deakin University
Browse

File(s) not publicly available

Prolactin, body condition and the cost of good parenting: an interyear study in a long-lived seabird, Gould's Petrel (Pterodroma leucoptera)

journal contribution
posted on 2006-10-01, 00:00 authored by T O'Dwyer, William Buttemer, D Priddel
1. The pituitary hormone prolactin is thought to play an important role in the promotion of parental care in birds and mammals. The level of care parents provide is, however, likely to be influenced by additional factors, such as their physiological condition at the time of breeding.

2. We examined relationships between parental body condition, plasma prolactin levels and reproductive performance in Gould's Petrels (Pterodroma leucoptera), a long-lived seabird. We predicted that parental body condition would correlate positively with both prolactin level and parenting intensity, as measured by the quality of the chick they produced. We also examined the effects of parenting intensity on parental body condition and reproductive success in the subsequent breeding season.

3. Body condition of male parents positively correlated with prolactin levels at the start of their second protracted incubation bout. The body condition of both parents correlated positively with the body condition of their chick at its peak mass. However, producing a good-quality chick did not negatively affect parental body condition or reproductive success the following year.

4. These results suggest that prolactin reinforces parental behaviour in parents in good body condition, which facilitates production of good-quality chicks. Moreover, good-quality parents consistently produce good-quality chicks with no apparent trade-off to their physical condition.

History

Journal

Functional ecology

Volume

20

Issue

5

Pagination

806 - 811

Publisher

Wiley-Blackwell Publishing

Location

Oxford, England

ISSN

0269-8463

eISSN

1365-2435

Language

eng

Publication classification

C1.1 Refereed article in a scholarly journal

Copyright notice

2006 The Authors

Usage metrics

    Research Publications

    Categories

    No categories selected

    Exports

    RefWorks
    BibTeX
    Ref. manager
    Endnote
    DataCite
    NLM
    DC