Female gonadal hormones and reproductive behaviors as key determinants of successful reproductive output of breeding whooping cranes (<i>Grus americana</i>)

Megan E. Brown; Sarah J. Converse; Jane N. Chandler; Charles Shafer; Janine L Brown; Carol L Keefer; Nucharin Songsasen

doi:10.1016/j.ygcen.2016.04.009

Female gonadal hormones and reproductive behaviors as key determinants of successful reproductive output of breeding whooping cranes (Grus americana)

General and Comparative Endocrinology

By: Megan E. Brown, Sarah J. Converse, Jane N. Chandler, Charles Shafer, Janine L Brown, Carol L Keefer, and Nucharin Songsasen

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ygcen.2016.04.009

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Abstract

Reproductive success of endangered whooping cranes (Grus americana) maintained ex situ is poor. As part of an effort to identify potential causes of poor reproductive success in a captive colony, we used non-invasive endocrine monitoring to assess gonadal and adrenal steroids of bird pairs with various reproductive outcomes and evaluated the relationships of hormones and behaviors to reproductive performance. Overall, reproductively successful (i.e., egg laying) females had significantly higher mean estrogen levels but lower mean progestogen concentrations than did unsuccessful females. Other hormones, including glucocorticoids and androgens, were not significantly different between successful and unsuccessful individuals. Observations of specific behaviors such as unison calling, marching, and the number of copulation attempts, along with overall time spent performing reproductive behaviors, were significantly higher in successful pairs. Our findings indicate that overall reproductive performance of whooping crane pairs is linked to female gonadal hormone excretion and reproductive behaviors, but not to altered adrenal hormone production.

Additional publication details
Publication type	Article
Publication Subtype	Journal Article
Title	Female gonadal hormones and reproductive behaviors as key determinants of successful reproductive output of breeding whooping cranes (Grus americana)
Series title	General and Comparative Endocrinology
DOI	10.1016/j.ygcen.2016.04.009
Volume	230-231
Year Published	2016
Language	English
Publisher	Elsevier
Contributing office(s)	Patuxent Wildlife Research Center
Description	8 p.
First page	158
Last page	165
Online Only (Y/N)	N
Additional Online Files (Y/N)	N
Google Analytic Metrics	Metrics page