Increasing photoperiod stimulates the initiation of spring migratory behaviour and physiology in a facultative migrant, the pine siskin.

ABSTRACT: The transition to a migratory state involves coordinated changes in physiology and behaviour. In species with regular, predictable (obligate) migrations, increasing day length triggers the expression of a spring migratory state and androgens play an important role in stimulating its development. By contrast, we know little about the environmental cues and endocrine mechanisms that regulate migration in species with less predictable (facultative) migrations. Here, we tested whether photoperiod stimulates a migratory state in a facultative nomadic migrant, the pine siskin (Spinus pinus). We exposed wintering birds to either a naturally increasing or short-day photoperiod and measured physiological and behavioural changes indicative of a migratory state. We also examined changes in cir

SUBMITTER: Robart AR 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6124035 | biostudies-literature | 2018 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature