Consistency of Stress Hormone Profiles and Associations between Personality and Hormone Levels in a Wild Breeding Bird
- ASU Author/Contributor (non-ASU co-authors, if there are any, appear on document)
- Kristen Renee Content (Creator)
- Institution
- Appalachian State University (ASU )
- Web Site: https://library.appstate.edu/
- Advisor
- Lynn Siefferman
Abstract: Differences in personalities similar to those in humans have been documented in wild animals; individuals differ consistently in suites of correlated traits within and across contexts. Little is known about how hormones profiles may be related to animal personality. Because animals face ecological challenges, how an individual’s endocrine system responds and adapts to stressors can affect their survivorship and reproductive output. Although stress hormones might mediate behavior, researchers have rarely tested whether stress hormone profiles are consistent within individual animals. In the summer of 2014, I studied a breeding population of wild tree swallows (Tachycineta bicolor) to address the following questions: 1) Do individuals express parental defense aggression that is consistent when measured multiple times during the breeding season? 2) Are blood glucocorticoid levels consistent within individual animals when measured multiple times during the breeding season? 3) Is the bird’s personality (i.e. aggression) correlated with glucocorticoid levels during breeding season? I predicted that personality and glucocorticoid levels would be consistent (statistically repeatable) and correlated with parental defense aggression. I measured parental defense behavior towards models of nest predators twice during the nestling rearing season. I found high repeatability of female aggression; females that were aggressive toward mock predators during the first trial were also aggressive one week later. Moreover, I found that baseline glucocorticoid levels were repeatable and that females with lower baseline glucocorticoid levels defended their nestlings more vigorously. These data suggest that stress hormone profiles are predictable within females and that females may experience hormone-mediated tradeoffs between self-preservation and caring for young. Finally, my research suggests that hormone levels may be an important proximate determinant of animal personality.
Consistency of Stress Hormone Profiles and Associations between Personality and Hormone Levels in a Wild Breeding Bird
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Created on 8/19/2015
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Additional Information
- Publication
- Honors Project
- Content, K. (2015) Consistency of Stress Hormone Profiles and Associations between Personality and Hormone Levels in a Wild Breeding Bird. Unpublished honors thesis. Appalachian State University, Boone, NC.
- Language: English
- Date: 2015