Colouration of the uropygial secretion in starling nestlings: a possible role of bacteria in parent-offspring communication

The use of cosmetic substances in communication is widespread in animals. Birds, for instance, use their uropygial secretion as a cosmetic in scenarios of sexual selection and parent-offspring communication. This secretion harbours symbiotic bacteria that could mediate the synthesis of pigments for...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Proceedings of the Royal Society. A, Mathematical, physical, and engineering sciences Mathematical, physical, and engineering sciences, 2024-11, Vol.291 (2035), p.20241857
Main Authors: Martínez-Renau, Ester, Martín-Platero, Antonio M, Barón, María Dolores, García-Núñez, Antonio José, Martínez-Bueno, Manuel, Ruiz-Castellano, Cristina, Tomás, Gustavo, Soler, Juan José
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Animal Communication
Animals
Bacteria - metabolism
Color
Microbiota
Pigmentation
Starlings - metabolism
Starlings - physiology
Citations: Items that this one cites
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:The use of cosmetic substances in communication is widespread in animals. Birds, for instance, use their uropygial secretion as a cosmetic in scenarios of sexual selection and parent-offspring communication. This secretion harbours symbiotic bacteria that could mediate the synthesis of pigments for cosmetic colouration. Here, we investigate the association between bacteria and the conspicuous yellow secretion used by spotless starling ( ) nestlings to stain their mouths, and hypothesize a possible role of bacteria in the colour production. We also experimentally explore how nestling oxidizing condition influences the microbiota, suggesting that the possible bacterial-mediated coloured secretion acts as a reliable honest signal. An antioxidant supplementation experiment, previously known to affect secretion and mouth colouration, was conducted to assess its impact on the microbial community of secretions from control and experimental siblings. Antioxidant supplementation increased richness and phylogenetic diversity of the secretion's microbiota. Moreover, the microbiota's alpha and beta diversity, and the abundance of two bacterial genera ( and ), correlated with secretion colour. These findings demonstrate that antioxidant condition influences the gland microbiota of starling nestlings, and suggest a link between bacteria and the colouration of their cosmetic secretion. Alternative explanations for the detected links between bacteria and colouration are discussed.
ISSN:1471-2946
1471-2954
1471-2954
1471-2946
DOI:10.1098/rspb.2024.1857