Physiological parameters indicative of stress during nonbreeding and breeding of a plover in Patagonia.

D'AMICO, VERÓNICA LAURA; GONZALEZ, PATRICIA; WALKER, BRIAN; HEVIA, GLENDA DENISE; BERTELLOTTI, MARCELO

Puerto Madryn

Congreso; 9th (Virtual) Western Hemisphere Shorebird Group Meeting.; 2022

CESIMAR, IDEAus - CONICET

Migratory shorebirds are the most threatened avian species due to the effects of human activities and climate change. Physiological parameters are useful to evaluate the health status of free-living animals. Here we investigated lymphocytes, heterophils, heterophils/lymphocytes, and glucose for female and male Two-banded Plovers (Charadrius falklandicus, Latham, 1790) during nonbreeding (body moult) and breeding (incubation) seasons in coastal areas of northern Patagonia, Argentina.We also measured corticosterone for the first time for this species during the breeding season. Nonbreeding Two-banded Plovers were more likely to have higher physiological measurements that were not dependent on body moult nor body condition, being similar between sexes. Differences found in glucose are likely related to recent feeding in nonbreeding birds compared with fasting during incubation. The gregarious nonbreeding behaviour in comparison with the isolated breeding pairs would increase the risk of acquiring parasites and (or) pathogens inducing a response of the immune system reflected in higher values of lymphocytes. Baseline corticosterone during breeding was similar between sexes and were lower compared with other values reported for breeding plovers. Two-banded Plovers undergo energetically demanding physiological changes during thenonbreeding stage, strengthening the idea that conservation of the environmental resources at these locations may be more important than previously thought.