Life-history and hormonal control of aggression in black redstarts: Blocking testosterone does not decrease territorial aggression, but changes the emphasis of vocal behaviours during simulated territorial intrusions

Apfelbeck, Beate; Mortega, Kim G; Kiefer, Sarah; Kipper, Silke; Goymann, Wolfgang

doi:10.1186/1742-9994-10-8

Frontiers in Zoology

Table 1 Effects of androgen receptor blocker and/or aromatase inhibition treatment on territoriality and aggression in different species of birds

From: Life-history and hormonal control of aggression in black redstarts: Blocking testosterone does not decrease territorial aggression, but changes the emphasis of vocal behaviours during simulated territorial intrusions

Species	Treat	Days	Song output	Song str.	Calls	App. lat.	Closest app.	Spent close	Lat. attack.	Flights chases attacks pecks	Threat display	Loss	Reference
Breeding season
Songbirds
European stonechat	AR/Aro	7-17					↑		↑			no	[56, 57]
European robin	AR	8-14	no			no	no	no				no	[15]
		18-25	no			↑	no	no				no
Song sparrow (pre-breeding)	AR	18	no			no	no	no		↓		no	[17]
Song sparrow	AR	18	no			no	no	no		no		no	[17]
Song sparrow	Aro	24hrs	no			no	no	no		no		no	[12]
		8-10	no			no	no	no		no		no
Red-winged blackbird(*) (polygynous)	AR/Aro	2-5	no ¹		no					no		no ²	[28]
Red-winged blackbird(*)	AR	4-12	no		no					no		no	[28]
Great tit	AR/Aro	2-5	↓ ³	no ⁴								no	[32]
Spotted antbird	AR/Aro	8	↓ ⁵		less snarls						no	lab	[29]
Rufous-collared sparrow	AR/Aro	7-13	no			no	no	no		no		no	[58]
House sparrow (x)	AR	7-10										no⁶	[59]
Non-songbirds
Corncrake	AR	2			↓			↓				no	[60]
Bobwhite quail	AR	20								↓		lab	[61]
Screech owl	AR/Aro	7-14	no				no	↓				no	[62]
Japanese quail (#)	Aro	1-10								↓		lab	[45]
Japanese quail (#)	AR	1-10								no		lab	[45]
Non-breeding season	treat	days	song output	song str.	calls	app. lat.	closest app.	spent close	lat. attack	flights, chases	threat display	loss	references
Songbirds
European stonechat	AR/Aro	7-17					no		no			no	[56]
European robin	AR	6	no			no	no	no				no	[15]
		31-39	no			no	no	no				no
Song sparrow	Aro	24hrs	no			no	↑	no		↓		no	[12, 63]
		9-12	↓			↑	↑	↓		↓		no	[12, 63]
Song sparrow	AR/Aro	7	no			no	no	no		no		no	[27]
		30	↓			↑	↑	↓		↓		no
Spotted antbird	AR/Aro	8	no		no						no	lab	[51]
Red-winged blackbird(+)	AR	1-15								↓		yes	[64]
Non-songbirds
Red grouse	AR/Aro	14-21			no							no	[65]
Screech owl (n = 2 – 3)	AR/Aro	7-14	no				no	(↓)				no	[62]

“Treat” indicates the type of blocker treatment with either AR (androgen receptors blocked) and/or Aro (aromatase and thus the conversion of androgens to oestrogens blocked). “Song str.” = changes in song structure; “app. lat” = latency to approach a decoy; “closest app.” = closest approach to a decoy; “spent close” = time spent close to a decoy; “lat. attack” = latency to attack a decoy; “loss” = loss of territory or loss of dominance. All species except spotted-antbirds and rufous-collared sparrows were non-tropical species. Most of the studies assessed territorial behaviour by challenging free-living treated territory owners with simulated territorial intrusions, except:
(*) naturally occurring territorial aggression,
(^x) observation of nest site defence.
(+) lab studies that quantified aggression and dominance between group-housed males.
(#) lab study assessing locomotor activity and pecking rate in response to a stimulus female behind glass.
Numbers in superscript refer to:
^1.More vocalizations in general.
^2.Some males lost parts of their territories.
^3.The likelihood of dawn song was reduced.
^4.There was no effect on song duration or repertoire size.
^5.They sang less spontaneous song, less song towards females and during STIs.
^6.Defence of nest site decreased in AR inhibited individuals, but no loss.
If there was an effect of the treatment, upward arrows indicate that the respective behaviour increased (↑), while downward arrows indicate a decrease in the behaviour (↓). Because of major methodological differences we do not present the study by Archawaranon and Wiley (1988, white-throated sparrows, Aro and testosterone treatment combined) in the table.

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ISSN: 1742-9994

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