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    Two seconds is all it takes: European starlings (Sturnus vulgaris) increase levels of circulating glucocorticoids after witnessing a brief raptor attack

    Access Status
    Fulltext not available
    Authors
    Jones, B.
    Smith, A.
    Bebus, Sara
    Schoech, S.
    Date
    2016
    Type
    Journal Article
    
    Metadata
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    Citation
    Jones, B. and Smith, A. and Bebus, S. and Schoech, S. 2016. Two seconds is all it takes: European starlings (Sturnus vulgaris) increase levels of circulating glucocorticoids after witnessing a brief raptor attack. Hormones and Behavior. 78: pp. 72-78.
    Source Title
    Hormones and Behavior
    DOI
    10.1016/j.yhbeh.2015.10.017
    ISSN
    0018-506X
    School
    Department of Environment and Agriculture
    URI
    http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/38728
    Collection
    • Curtin Research Publications
    Abstract

    © 2015 Elsevier Inc.. Researchers typically study "acute" activation of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis by measuring levels of circulating glucocorticoids in animals that have been exposed to a predator or a cue from a predator (e.g., odor), or have experienced a standardized capture-and-restraint protocol, all of which are many minutes in duration. However, exposure to predators in the "wild", either as the subject of an attack or as a witness to an attack, is generally much shorter as most depredation attempts upon free-living animals last < 5 s. Yet, whether a stimulus lasting only seconds can activate the HPA axis is unknown. To determine if a stimulus of a few seconds triggers a glucocorticoid response, we measured levels of corticosterone (CORT; the primary avian glucocorticoid) in wild-caught European starlings (Sturnus vulgaris) after they witnessed a brief (< 2-8 s) raptor attack upon a conspecific, a human "attack" (i.e., a researcher handling a conspecific), and an undisturbed control. Witnesses of a raptor attack responded with CORT levels comparable to that induced by a standardized capture-and-restraint protocol. Glucocorticoid levels of individuals following the control treatment were similar to baseline levels, and those that witnessed a human "attack" had intermediate levels. Our results demonstrate that witnessing a predator attack of very brief duration triggers a profound adrenocortical stress response. Given the considerable evidence of a role for glucocorticoids in learning and memory, such a response may affect how individuals learn to recognize and appropriately react to predators.

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