Isolation and characterization of polymorphic microsatellite markers in the white-winged chough (Corcorax melanorhamphos)

We have isolated and characterized seven polymorphic microsatellite loci in the white-winged chough (Corcorax melanorhamphos), a highly social, cooperatively breeding bird of Australian eucalypt woodlands. In analyses of 100 samples from 16 family groups, the number of alleles per locus ranged from four to 18, and observed heterozygosity ranged between 0.46 and 0.93. One locus appears to be sex-linked. The primers were also tested in apostlebirds (Struthidera cinerea), the only other species in the subfamily Corcoracinae. Five loci were successfully amplified and three were polymorphic.