| Title: | Olfactory camouflage and communication in birds |
| Author(s): | Grieves LA; Gilles M; Cuthill IC; Szekely T; MacDougall-Shackleton EA; Caspers BA; |
| Address: | "Department of Psychology, Neuroscience and Behaviour, McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario, L8S 4M4, Canada. Department of Behavioural Ecology, Bielefeld University, Konsequenz 45, Bielefeld, 33615, Germany. School of Biological Sciences, Life Sciences Building, 24 Tyndall Avenue, Bristol, BS8 1TQ, U.K. Milner Centre for Evolution, Department of Biology and Biochemistry, University of Bath, Bath, BA2 7AY, U.K. Department of Evolutionary Zoology and Human Biology, University of Debrecen, Egyetem ter 1, Debrecen, H-4032, Hungary. Department of Biology, University of Western Ontario, 1151 Richmond Street North, London, Ontario, N6A 5B7, Canada" |
| ISSN/ISBN: | 1469-185X (Electronic) 0006-3231 (Linking) |
| Abstract: | "Smell is a sensory modality that is rarely considered in birds, but evidence is mounting that olfaction is an important aspect of avian behaviour and ecology. The uropygial gland produces an odoriferous secretion (preen oil) that can differ seasonally and between the sexes. These differences are hypothesized to function in olfactory camouflage, i.e. minimizing detection by nest predators (olfactory crypsis hypothesis), and/or intraspecific olfactory communication, particularly during breeding (sex semiochemical hypothesis). However, evidence for seasonal and sex differences in preen oil is mixed, with some studies finding differences and others not, and direct evidence for the putative function(s) of seasonal variation and sex differences in preen oil remains limited. We conducted a systematic review of the evidence for such changes in preen oil chemical composition, finding seasonal differences in 95% of species (57/60 species in 35 studies) and sex differences in 47% of species (28/59 species in 46 studies). We then conducted phylogenetic comparative analyses using data from 59 bird species to evaluate evidence for both the olfactory crypsis and sex semiochemical hypotheses. Seasonal differences were more likely in the incubating than non-incubating sex in ground-nesting species, but were equally likely regardless of incubation strategy in non-ground-nesting species. This result supports the olfactory crypsis hypothesis, if ground nesters are more vulnerable to olfactorily searching predators than non-ground nesters. Sex differences were more likely in species with uniparental than biparental incubation and during breeding than non-breeding, consistent with both the olfactory crypsis and sex semiochemical hypotheses. At present, the data do not allow us to disentangle these two hypotheses, but we provide recommendations that will enable researchers to do so" |
| Keywords: | Animals Birds Communication Pheromones Phylogeny *Plant Breeding *Smell bird odour chemical cues infochemicals mate recognition olfaction parental care preen oil scent sexual selection uropygial gland secretion; |
| Notes: | "MedlineGrieves, Leanne A Gilles, Marc Cuthill, Innes C Szekely, Tamas MacDougall-Shackleton, Elizabeth A Caspers, Barbara A eng Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't Systematic Review England 2022/02/08 Biol Rev Camb Philos Soc. 2022 Jun; 97(3):1193-1209. doi: 10.1111/brv.12837. Epub 2022 Feb 6" |
