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First published online January 18, 2008
Journal of Experimental Biology 211, 337-340 (2008)
Published by The Company of Biologists 2008
doi: 10.1242/jeb.010512

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Examining the development of individual recognition in a burrow-nesting procellariiform, the Leach's storm-petrel

Terence W. O'Dwyer^*, A. L. Ackerman and Gabrielle A. Nevitt

Section of Neurobiology, Physiology and Behavior, Division of Biological Sciences, University of California, Davis, One Shields Avenue, Davis, CA 95616, USA

^* Author for correspondence (e-mail: twodwyer{at}ucdavis.edu)

Accepted 5 November 2007

Burrow-nesting petrels use their well-developed sense of smell for foraging, homing to their nest, and mate recognition. The chicks of burrow-nesting petrels can apparently learn odours associated with prey while still in the nest, but the development of individual-specific odour recognition is less well understood. We used a simple two-choice test to determine whether 4- to 6-week-old chicks of a small, burrow-nesting species, the Leach's storm-petrel (Oceanodroma leucorhoa), prefer the scent of their own nest material to (1) the scent of similar organic material collected from the colony or (2) the scent of a conspecific's nest material. Results suggest that chicks clearly preferred the scent of their own nest material to that of similar organic material collected from the colony (96%; N=24; binomial test, P<0.001). Results further suggested that birds preferred the scent of their own nest material to that of a conspecific, though the preference was statistically less robust (67%; N=39; binomial test, P=0.05). Because Leach's storm-petrel chicks do not normally leave their burrow prior to fledging, an ability to recognise individual or nest-specific odours is not likely to be used for homing but instead may be linked to the development of individual recognition in different contexts.

Key words: olfaction, odour learning, individual odour, seabird, Procellariiformes

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