The Development of Olfactory Foraging Strategies in Antarctic Procellariiform Seabirds

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Procellariiform seabirds (petrels, albatrosses, shearwaters) are distinguished by their acute sense of smell. These birds have pelagic lifestyles and forage over thousands of miles of ocean to find patchily distributed resources. This project will explore the hypothesis that, during development chicks become tuned to odors associated with feeding in a manner analogous to olfactory imprinting. The development of olfactory sensitivity in burrow-nesting procellariiform seabirds will be studied within the Kerguelen Archipelago. There are three primary objectives. First, behavioral responses of chicks to two prey-related odors (dimethyl sulfide and cod liver oil), one novel odor (phenyl ethyl alcohol - rose scent) and burrow-related odors (burrow and colony dirt) will be characterized using videotape documentation. Second, it will be determined whether chicks can learn odor cues by pre-exposing chicks to a non-prey related odor during the egg stage, and then testing for increased sensitivity to that odor post-hatching. Finally, key behavioral responses induced when a chick is exposed to an odor plume within a portable wind flume will be quantified. Only a handful of studies have addressed olfactory abilities of procellariiform seabirds, or indeed any bird. Results from the proposed research will be among the first to address the development of olfaction in an ecologically important context. Overall, the results will greatly extend our knowledge of the foraging ecology of these fascinating birds. Such knowledge not only is useful to basic science, but also may help bolster efforts to ensure the conservation of procellariiforms, given the threatened or endangered status of many species. The broader impacts of this work include research experience for a graduate student and an active international collaboration with the French Institute for Polar Research and Technology. Furthermore, the results may be transferable to other potentially important organisms such as salmon and insects, where there is commercial importance in understanding the developmental stages of olfaction.