Variation in body condition of breeding Savi's Warblers Locustella luscinioides: the reproductive stress and flight adaptation hypothesis revisited

Journal article

Current theory suggests that mass change in adult birds while breeding may be adaptive (to reduce wing-loading during nestling feeding) or result from physiological stress. To test which might be more important in determining mass loss in breeding Savi's Warblers (Locustella luscinioides), we used a new approach in which the variation in four indices of body condition was described: weight, fat score, muscle score and lean weight (i.e. excluding fat and muscle). We expected weight variations ...

Expand abstract

Authors: Manuel Neto, J; Gosler, A

• Publication status: Published
• Journal: JOURNAL OF ORNITHOLOGY
• Volume: 151
• Issue: 1
• Pages: 201-210
• Publication date: 2010-01-01
• DOI: 10.1007/s10336-009-0444-9
• EISSN: 1439-0361
• ISSN: 0021-8375
• Language: English
• Keywords: Fat; Body condition; Reproduction; Physiological stress; Muscle