Hot Birds Research Project

When faced with stressful stimuli, wild birds like other vertebrates, mount a stress response that culminates in the elevation of the glucocorticoid corticosterone (CORT) in the blood-stream. In this study, I intend to examine the stress response to activities related to the use of wild birds in research, including capture and confinement in captivity, as well as stress responses to heat waves. The capture, handling and confinement of birds in captivity is often necessary for research purposes. However, the physiological effects of these activities have not been thoroughly investigated, particularly for African avian species. I will use blood CORT concentrations to quantify stress responses to capture and short-term restraint in several bird species, at different seasons. I will also use faecal corticosterone metabolites (FCM) to quantify stress responses to long-term captivity and to determine differences in the magnitude of the stress response to housing in small enclosures such as cages versus housing in larger enclosures such as aviaries. Given that heat waves are predicted to increase in frequency, intensity and duration in the coming years, I will also quantify stress responses of (at least) two bird species to simulated temperature increases using FCM analysis. The birds will be exposed to varied daily temperatures with different daily maximum temperatures for each treatment, so as to determine how increasing daily temperatures affect the stress response. The captivity and temperature stress studies will be done in temperature-controlled rooms at the University of Pretoria Small Animals Physiological Research Facility.