Songbird chemosignals: volatile compounds in preen gland secretions vary among individuals, sexes, and populations.

ABSTRACT: Chemical signaling has been documented in many animals, but its potential importance in avian species, particularly songbirds, has received far less attention. We tested whether volatile compounds in the preen oil of a songbird (Junco hyemalis) contain reliable information about individual identity, sex, or population of origin by repeated sampling from captive male and female juncos originating from 2 recently diverged junco populations in southern California. One of the populations recently colonized an urban environment; the other resides in a species-typical montane environment. The birds were field-caught as juveniles, housed under identical conditions, and fed the same diet for 10 months prior to sampling. We used capillary gas chromatography-mass spectrometry to quantify the relativ

SUBMITTER: Whittaker DJ 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2854530 | biostudies-literature | 2010 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature