Corticosterone predicts foraging behavior and parental care in macaroni penguins

Corticosterone has received considerable attention as the principal hormonal mediator of allostasis or physiological stress in wild animals. More recently, it has also been implicated in the regulation of parental care in breeding birds, particularly with respect to individual variation in foraging behaviour and provisioning effort. There is also evidence that prolactin can work either inversely or additively with corticosterone to achieve this. Here we test the hypothesis that endogenous corticosterone plays a key physiological role in the control of foraging behaviour and parental care using a combination of exogenous corticosterone treatment, time-depth telemetry, and physiological sampling of female macaroni penguins (Eudyptes chrysolophus) during the brood-guard period of chick rearing, while simultaneously monitoring patterns of prolactin secretion. Plasma corticosterone levels were significantly higher in females given exogenous implants relative to those receiving sham implants....皮质酮（Corticosterone）作为野生动物体内介导异稳态（allostasis）或生理应激的核心激素，已受到学界广泛关注。近年来，其在繁殖鸟类育幼行为调控中的作用亦得到证实，尤其与觅食行为及育雏投入的个体差异紧密相关。另有研究表明，催乳素（prolactin）可通过与皮质酮相拮抗或协同的方式参与此类调控。本研究针对“内源性皮质酮在觅食行为与育幼行为调控中发挥关键生理作用”这一假说展开验证：以处于雏鸟抚育育雏守护期的雌性马可罗尼企鹅（Eudyptes chrysolophus）为研究对象，联合采用外源性皮质酮处理、时间-深度遥测技术与生理采样手段，并同步监测其催乳素分泌模式。结果显示，接受外源性皮质酮植入的雌性个体，其血浆皮质酮水平显著高于接受假手术植入的对照组个体……