Same species, different risks: predation shapes hormonal profiles in a breeding sea duck, the common eider
Bertille Mohring, Farshad S Vakili, Frédéric Angelier, Kim Jaatinen, Suvi Ruuskanen, Olivier Chastel, Charline Parenteau, Bin-Yan Hsu, Titiksha Peetumber, Céline Arzel, Markus Öst, Christine Madliger · 2026
Read Same species, different risks: predation shapes hormonal profiles in a breeding sea duck, the common eider by Bertille Mohring, Farshad S Vakili, Frédéric Angelier, Kim Jaatinen, Suvi Ruuskanen, Olivier Chastel, Charline Parenteau, Bin-Yan Hsu, Titiksha Peetumber, Céline Arzel, Markus Öst, Christine Madliger (2026) in the Tower of Babel, a free online library of public-domain works preserved in clean, searchable text. No sign-up. The full text is served as a plain-text file at a predictable URL, where text is present: https://antarctic-labs.com/tower-of-babel/PMC13293623.txt.
Description
Bertille Mohring and a large team compare, in a 2026 study, hormone profiles in common eider ducks breeding at two nearby colonies with opposite risks. One site has few people but many predators, while heavy tourism at the other scares predators away.
Ducks at the high-risk site had higher baseline stress and thyroid hormone levels, hinting at costlier incubation under threat. Sharp stress responses stayed alike at both sites, so ducks kept full alarm capacity. Females at the sheltered site had higher prolactin, a hormone tied to parental effort, fitting greater investment when risk feels low. Human presence can thus act as a scarecrow shield.
Catalog record
| CREATOR | Bertille Mohring, Farshad S Vakili, Frédéric Angelier, Kim Jaatinen, Suvi Ruuskanen, Olivier Chastel, Charline Parenteau, Bin-Yan Hsu, Titiksha Peetumber, Céline Arzel, Markus Öst, Christine Madliger |
|---|---|
| YEAR | 2026 |
| COLLECTION | PAPERS |
| FORMAT | TXT |
| FILE SIZE | 58060 |
| LICENSE | https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0 |
| RIGHTS | CC BY |
| SOURCE | Europe PMC |