The presence/absence of conspecifics modulates the circadian locomotor activity and body mass in spotted munia (Lonchura punctulata)

ABSTRACT

Biological clocks regulate the behavior and physiology of animals by tracking the local time using diverse time cues. Social cues are relevant in studying the behavior of gregarious animals, but these cues have not been widely studied in birds. Temporal information for circadian timekeeping is socially communicated through visual, physical, olfactory, and auditory means. We examined the efficacy of pulsatile social interactions on locomotor activity and its associated characteristics such as distribution profile of rest and activity, total counts, activity duration, phase shift in activity onset, and circadian periodicity in spotted munia. Besides, we analyzed the effect of such social interactions on their body mass. Spotted munia exhibited phase shift in the onset of activity when subjected to social isolation, but these cues could not affect their circadian periodicity. In Pair as well as in Group, social isolation led to increased activity and activity duration, and decreased body mass in guests relative to the host bird. Our results suggest that the circadian rhythm of locomotor activity in spotted munia is quite sensitive to socialization and isolation, and isolation is detrimental for the birds. Consistent with these observations, the decline in body mass revealed the physiological consequences of social isolation on spotted munia.

KEYWORDS:

• Activity onset
• birds
• body mass
• circadian rhythm
• effect size
• locomotor activity
• isolation
• social interaction

Acknowledgments

We are thankful to our lab members for their help and support as and when needed. We express our gratitude to the anonymous reviewers for reviewing our manuscript during the peer-review process.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Data availability statement

The data that support the findings of this study are available at figshare (https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.23295800.v3) and further can be asked for from the corresponding author, [SR], upon reasonable request.

Supplementary material

Supplemental data for this article can be accessed online at https://doi.org/10.1080/07420528.2023.2292732.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the University Grants Commission, New Delhi, India under Grant [F. no. 36-267/2008 (SR)] funded to SR.