An adaptive annual rhythm in the sex of first pigeon eggs

Cor Dijkstra; Bernd Riedstra; Arjan Dekker; Vivian C. Goerlich; Serge Daan; Ton G. G. Groothuis

doi:10.1007/s00265-010-0954-8

An adaptive annual rhythm in the sex of first pigeon eggs

Cor Dijkstra^*, Bernd Riedstra, Arjan Dekker, Vivian C. Goerlich, Serge Daan, Ton G. G. Groothuis

^*Corresponding author for this work

University of Groningen

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › Academic › peer-review

Abstract

When the reproductive value of male and female offspring varies differentially, parents are predicted to adjust the sex ratio of their offspring to maximize their fitness (Trivers and Willard, Science 179:90-92, 1973). Two factors have been repeatedly linked to skews in avian offspring sex ratio. First, laying date can affect offspring sex ratio when the sexes differ in age of first reproduction, such that the more slowly maturing sex is overproduced early in the season. Second, position of the egg in the laying sequence of a clutch may affect sex ratio bias since manipulating the sex of the first eggs may be least costly to the mother. We studied both factors in two non-domesticated pigeon species. Both the Wood pigeon (Columba palumbus) and the Rock pigeon (Columba livia) have long breeding seasons and lay two-egg clutches. In the field, we determined the sex of Wood pigeon nestlings. In Rock pigeons, housed in captivity outdoors, we determined embryo sex after 3 days of incubation. On the basis of their sex-specific age of first reproduction, we predicted that males, maturing at older age than females, should be produced in majority early and females later in the year. This was confirmed for both species. The bias was restricted to first eggs. Rock pigeons produced clutches throughout the year and show that the sex of the first egg followed an annual cycle. To our knowledge, this study presents the first evidence of a full annual rhythm in adaptive sex allocation in birds. We suggest that this reflects an endogenous seasonal program in primary sex ratio controlled by a preovulatory mechanism.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	1393-1402
Number of pages	10
Journal	Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology
Volume	64
Issue number	9
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1007/s00265-010-0954-8
Publication status	Published - Sept 2010
Externally published	Yes

Funding

We thank all the owners permitting us to collect the Wood pigeon data on their property. We are grateful for the help of many students who were involved in the Rock pigeon study. We thank the animal caretakers Sjoerd Veenstra, Roelie Veenstra-Wiegman, Saskia Helder, and Monique Huizinga for taking care of the Rock pigeons. We gratefully acknowledge the assistance of Guido Meeuwissen, Bonnie de Vries, and Roelie Veenstra-Wiegman in the DNA lab with the molecular sex determinations. We thank Nicolaus von Engelhardt and Roelof Hut for their great help with the statistics, and Dick Visser for promoting the layout of the figures. Finally, we acknowledge the suggestions made by three anonymous referees, which greatly improved the manuscript. This project was approved by the Animal Experimentation Committee of the University of Groningen under license DEC 2682. The authors were supported by grants from the University of Groningen (CD, VCG), NWO (BR, TGGG), and EU (FP6 018741 EUCLOCK; SD).

Keywords

Avian
Primary sex ratio
Sex allocation
Seasonal variation
Egg-laying sequence
Pigeon
Laying date
RATIO ADJUSTMENT
HATCHING ORDER
BIRDS
MANIPULATION
KESTREL
BROODS
MECHANISMS
HYPOTHESIS
ALLOCATION
SELECTION

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title = "An adaptive annual rhythm in the sex of first pigeon eggs",

abstract = "When the reproductive value of male and female offspring varies differentially, parents are predicted to adjust the sex ratio of their offspring to maximize their fitness (Trivers and Willard, Science 179:90-92, 1973). Two factors have been repeatedly linked to skews in avian offspring sex ratio. First, laying date can affect offspring sex ratio when the sexes differ in age of first reproduction, such that the more slowly maturing sex is overproduced early in the season. Second, position of the egg in the laying sequence of a clutch may affect sex ratio bias since manipulating the sex of the first eggs may be least costly to the mother. We studied both factors in two non-domesticated pigeon species. Both the Wood pigeon (Columba palumbus) and the Rock pigeon (Columba livia) have long breeding seasons and lay two-egg clutches. In the field, we determined the sex of Wood pigeon nestlings. In Rock pigeons, housed in captivity outdoors, we determined embryo sex after 3 days of incubation. On the basis of their sex-specific age of first reproduction, we predicted that males, maturing at older age than females, should be produced in majority early and females later in the year. This was confirmed for both species. The bias was restricted to first eggs. Rock pigeons produced clutches throughout the year and show that the sex of the first egg followed an annual cycle. To our knowledge, this study presents the first evidence of a full annual rhythm in adaptive sex allocation in birds. We suggest that this reflects an endogenous seasonal program in primary sex ratio controlled by a preovulatory mechanism.",

keywords = "Avian, Primary sex ratio, Sex allocation, Seasonal variation, Egg-laying sequence, Pigeon, Laying date, RATIO ADJUSTMENT, HATCHING ORDER, BIRDS, MANIPULATION, KESTREL, BROODS, MECHANISMS, HYPOTHESIS, ALLOCATION, SELECTION",

author = "Cor Dijkstra and Bernd Riedstra and Arjan Dekker and Goerlich, {Vivian C.} and Serge Daan and Groothuis, {Ton G. G.}",

year = "2010",

month = sep,

doi = "10.1007/s00265-010-0954-8",

language = "English",

volume = "64",

pages = "1393--1402",

journal = "Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology",

issn = "0340-5443",

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T1 - An adaptive annual rhythm in the sex of first pigeon eggs

AU - Dijkstra, Cor

AU - Riedstra, Bernd

AU - Dekker, Arjan

AU - Goerlich, Vivian C.

AU - Daan, Serge

AU - Groothuis, Ton G. G.

PY - 2010/9

Y1 - 2010/9

N2 - When the reproductive value of male and female offspring varies differentially, parents are predicted to adjust the sex ratio of their offspring to maximize their fitness (Trivers and Willard, Science 179:90-92, 1973). Two factors have been repeatedly linked to skews in avian offspring sex ratio. First, laying date can affect offspring sex ratio when the sexes differ in age of first reproduction, such that the more slowly maturing sex is overproduced early in the season. Second, position of the egg in the laying sequence of a clutch may affect sex ratio bias since manipulating the sex of the first eggs may be least costly to the mother. We studied both factors in two non-domesticated pigeon species. Both the Wood pigeon (Columba palumbus) and the Rock pigeon (Columba livia) have long breeding seasons and lay two-egg clutches. In the field, we determined the sex of Wood pigeon nestlings. In Rock pigeons, housed in captivity outdoors, we determined embryo sex after 3 days of incubation. On the basis of their sex-specific age of first reproduction, we predicted that males, maturing at older age than females, should be produced in majority early and females later in the year. This was confirmed for both species. The bias was restricted to first eggs. Rock pigeons produced clutches throughout the year and show that the sex of the first egg followed an annual cycle. To our knowledge, this study presents the first evidence of a full annual rhythm in adaptive sex allocation in birds. We suggest that this reflects an endogenous seasonal program in primary sex ratio controlled by a preovulatory mechanism.

AB - When the reproductive value of male and female offspring varies differentially, parents are predicted to adjust the sex ratio of their offspring to maximize their fitness (Trivers and Willard, Science 179:90-92, 1973). Two factors have been repeatedly linked to skews in avian offspring sex ratio. First, laying date can affect offspring sex ratio when the sexes differ in age of first reproduction, such that the more slowly maturing sex is overproduced early in the season. Second, position of the egg in the laying sequence of a clutch may affect sex ratio bias since manipulating the sex of the first eggs may be least costly to the mother. We studied both factors in two non-domesticated pigeon species. Both the Wood pigeon (Columba palumbus) and the Rock pigeon (Columba livia) have long breeding seasons and lay two-egg clutches. In the field, we determined the sex of Wood pigeon nestlings. In Rock pigeons, housed in captivity outdoors, we determined embryo sex after 3 days of incubation. On the basis of their sex-specific age of first reproduction, we predicted that males, maturing at older age than females, should be produced in majority early and females later in the year. This was confirmed for both species. The bias was restricted to first eggs. Rock pigeons produced clutches throughout the year and show that the sex of the first egg followed an annual cycle. To our knowledge, this study presents the first evidence of a full annual rhythm in adaptive sex allocation in birds. We suggest that this reflects an endogenous seasonal program in primary sex ratio controlled by a preovulatory mechanism.

KW - Avian

KW - Primary sex ratio

KW - Sex allocation

KW - Seasonal variation

KW - Egg-laying sequence

KW - Pigeon

KW - Laying date

KW - RATIO ADJUSTMENT

KW - HATCHING ORDER

KW - BIRDS

KW - MANIPULATION

KW - KESTREL

KW - BROODS

KW - MECHANISMS

KW - HYPOTHESIS

KW - ALLOCATION

KW - SELECTION

U2 - 10.1007/s00265-010-0954-8

DO - 10.1007/s00265-010-0954-8

M3 - Article

SN - 0340-5443

VL - 64

SP - 1393

EP - 1402

JO - Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology

JF - Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology

IS - 9

ER -

An adaptive annual rhythm in the sex of first pigeon eggs

Abstract

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Keywords

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