PHOTOPERIODIC CONTROL OF TESTICULAR REGRESSION AND MOLT IN MALE HOUSE SPARROWS PASSER-DOMESTICUS

Testis size, bill colour and moult were monitored in male House Sparrows Passer domesticus kept under a natural daylength regime between February and November. On three occasions (at the summer solstice, 25 days later and 39 days later), groups of birds were transferred to a daylength of 18 h of light and 6 h of darkness per day (18L:6D), the natural daylength at the solstice. In birds under natural daylengths, the testes had regressed significantly by 25 days after the solstice. In those transferred to 18L:6D at the solstice, the onset of regression was delayed by about 4 weeks. Transfer to 18L:6D after the solstice did not cause recrudescence; the testes continued to regress. In birds transferred to 18L:6D at the solstice, moult was delayed by 4 weeks and progressed more slowly. These results suggest that photoperiodically induced gonadal regression in this species contains elements characteristic of both absolute and relative photorefractoriness.