Short- and Long-Term Effects of Male-Like Concentrations of Testosterone on Female European Starlings (Sturnus Vulgaris)

European Starlings (Sturnus vulgaris) exhibit marked sex differences in behavior during spring. Song activity, nest-box occupation, the carrying of green nesting materials into a nest hole (typical mate-attraction behaviors), and aggression occur much more frequently in males who also have higher testosterone (T)-levels than females. Here, we examined whether male-like concentrations of T would activate these behaviors in female starlings. We treated females with implants that were either empty (C-females) or packed with T (T-females) during late December. Although elevated T-levels significantly increased song activity in females, the proportion of time spent singing was still much lower than in males. T-treatment in females also failed to induce singing behavior in the nest box, a typical male mate-attraction behavior. Those results suggest both activational and organizational effects of T on singing. Nest-box occupation, carrying of green nesting material into a nest hole, and aggressive behavior were not activated by elevated T-levels, indicating that sex differences in these behaviors are probably based on early organizational effects of steroid hormones. We also evaluated effects of increased T-concentrations on some physiological, morphological, and immunological parameters. T-treatment strongly suppressed tail feather regrowth after experimental plucking, and also delayed onset of molt of wing feathers and slowed its progress. T-implantation caused color of the bill to change from black to yellow, but did not affect body mass. Immune function was determined by using two indirect measures: blood composition (haematocrit and buffy coat values) and indications of infections. Although haematocrit and buffy coat values did not differ between C- and T-females, T-females were significantly more infected with Staphylococcus aureus than C-females at the end of the experiment.