Finch, zebra

In birds, a brain mercury concentration of less than 2 ppm wet weight was associated with reduced egg laying, and impaired nest and territory fidelity in common loons (Barr 1986). Black duck embryos with brain mercury concentrations of 4 to 6 ppm failed to hatch (Finley and Stendall 1978). Brain mercury concentrations of 20 ppm caused 25% mortality in mercury-exposed zebra finches (Scheu-hammer 1988). 

Scheuhammer AM. 1988. Chronic dietary toxicity of methylmercury in the zebra finch, Poephila guttata. Bull Environ Contam Toxicol 40 123-130. 

PHYSIOLOGICAL AND GENETIC CONTROL OF CAROTENOID COLORATION IN A DOMESTIC SONGBIRD MODEL, THE ZEBRA FINCH... 

Birkhead, T. R., Fletcher, F., and Pellatt, E. J. 1998. Sexual selection in the zebra finch Taeniopygia guttata Condition, sex traits and immune capacity. Behav. Ecol. Sociobiol. 44 179-191. 

Blount, J. D., Metcalfe, N. B., Birkhead, T. R., and Surai, P. F. 2003. Carotenoid modulation of immune function and sexual attractiveness in zebra finches. Science 300 125-127. 

Burley, N. and Coopersmith, C. B. 1987. Bill color preferences in zebra finches. Ethology 76 133-151. 

Burley, N., Tidemann, S. C., and Halupka, K. 1991. Bill colour and parasite levels of zebra finches. In Bird-Parasite Interactions Ecology, Evolution and Behaviour (Loye, J. E. and Zuk, M., eds.). Oxford University Press, Oxford, pp. 359-376. 

Burley, N. T., Price, D. K., and Zann, R. A. 1992. Bill color, reproduction and condition effects in wild and domesticated zebra finches. Auk 109 13-23. 

Collins, S. A., Hubbard, C., and Houtman, A. M. 1994. Female mate choice in the zebra finch—The effect of male beak colour and male song. Behav. Ecol. Sociobiol. 35 21-25. 

Eraud, C., Devevey, G., Gaillard, M., Prost, J., Sorci, G., and Faivre, B. 2007. Environmental stress affects the expression of a carotenoid-based sexual trait in male zebra finches. J. Exp. Biol. 210 3571-3578. 

McGraw, K. J., Adkins-Regan, E., and Parker, R. S. 2002. Anhydrolutein in the zebra finch A new, metaboli-cally derived carotenoid in birds. Comp. Biochem. Physiol. B 132 811-818. 

Price, D. K. 1996. Sexual selection, selection load and quantitative genetics of zebra finch bill colour. Proc. R. Soc. Lond. B 263 217-221. 

Price, D. K. and Burley, N. T. 1993. Constraints on the evolution of attractive traits Genetic (co)variance of zebra finch bill colour. Heredity 71 405 -12. 

Another RP-HPLC technology has been developed for the investigation of the carotenoid concentration in the diet, blood and tissues of zebra finch (Taeniopygia guttata). Diet mix (0.5) was pulverized and extracted three times with 2 ml of THF. The... 

Fig. 2.28. Relative abundance of carotenoid pigments in zebra finch diet, plasma and tissue. The carotenoid profile of each sample was determined by conventional reversed-phase HPLC. Letters denote significant differences in carotenoid composition (within tissues only) as determined by post hoc paired comparisons. Reprinted with permission from K. J. McGraw et al. [67].

E. Adkins-Regan and J. Wade, Masculinized sexual partner preference in female zebra finches with sex-reversed gonads. Horm. Behav. 39 (2001) 22-28. 

Figure 4.5 Volumes (mm ) of female zebra finch song nuclei area X, HVC, and nucleus robustus of the archistriatum (RA). The finches were orally treated as chicks at the age of 5-11 days with estradiol henzoate (EB), octylphenol (OP), methoxychlor (MXC), or dicofol (D). Canola was used as a control and as a vehicle to EB, OP, MXC, and D. The bars are mean + SE and the number of replicates per treatment are specified by the number at the base of each bar. Note that the volume (y axis) is expressed on a log scale and the asterisks denote groups that are significantly different from the control (i.e.. Canola-treated birds). Instances in area X where there are no bars show that no nuclei were detectable with that specified number of rephcates. (Adapted from Quaghno et al., 2002.)...

Quaglino A.E., C.B. Craig-Veit, M.R. Viant, A.L. Erichsen, D.M. Fry, and J.R. Millam (2002). Oral estrogen masculinizes female zebra finch song system. Hormones and Behavior 41 236-241. 

Dauwe, T., Bervoets, L., Blust, R. and Eens, M. (2002) Tissue levels of lead in experimentally exposed zebra finches (Taeniopygia guttata) with particular attention on the use of feathers as biomonitors. Archives of Environmental Contamination and Toxicology, 42, 88-92. 

Soderstrom K, Johnson F (2000) CBl cannabinoid receptor expression in brain regions associated with zebra finch song control. Brain Res 857 151-157... 

Soderstrom K, Johnson F (2001) Zebra finch CBl cannabinoid receptor pharmacology and in vivo and in vitro effects of activation. J Pharmacol Exp Ther 297 189-197... 

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