The effects of testicular tissue and prehatching inhibition of estrogen synthesis on the development of courtship and copulatory behavior in zebra finches

Abstract

As in many mammalian and avian species, testicular androgens or their metabolites activate courtship and copulatory behaviors in adult male zebra finches. However, studies of sexual differentiation of these behaviors and related anatomical structures provide conflicting results. For example, posthatching estradiol can both masculinize courtship and the neural structures involved in song in females and inhibit the development of masculine copulation in males. These and other results have led to the hypotheses that (1) testicular androgens are converted to estradiol in the brain of developing males, and estradiol serves to masculinize the song system, whereas (2) estradiol secretion by the female ovary allows feminine rather than masculine copulatory behavior to develop. Treating embryonic zebra finches with the estrogen synthesis inhibitor fadrozole causes functional testicular tissue to develop in genetic females. The present study investigated the effects of such treatment on the development of singing and copulatory behavior as well as song system anatomy in males and females. While exogenous testosterone facilitated the display of sexual behaviors in adult males, the testicular tissue in females had no masculinizing effect on the production of audible courtship song or copulation. Their song control nuclei were also not masculinized, even in individuals lacking ovarian tissue. In contrast, embryonic inhibition of estrogen synthesis in males significantly stimulated song production. These results suggest that while manipulations of steroid hormone exposure can influence the display of sexual behaviors, gonadal secretions may not be required for normal sexual differentiation of the song system in zebra finches.