Great tits (Parus major) reduce body mass in response to wing area reduction: a field experiment

Joan Carles Senar, Jordi Domènech and Francesc Uribe

Behavioral Ecology, 2002, vol. 13, issue 6, 725-727

Abstract: Flight performance is crucial in determining whether a small bird will survive an attack by a predator. Given the importance of body mass in determining flight performance, it has been suggested that birds should strategically regulate body mass as a response to predation risk. However, all experiments up to now have been carried out with captive birds, comparing experimental to control birds. Here we present data from the first experiment in the field using a within-individuals experimental design. The wing area of wild great tits, Parus major, was reduced by reversibly taping primaries five to seven. This allowed for the same individual to alternatively act as control or experimental bird. Great tits reduced body mass (but not pectoral muscle width) during episodes of wing area reduction, lending support to the view that the reduction in body mass experienced by birds during molt is a strategy rather than the result of energetic stress. Theoretical models establishing the different trade-offs that determine optimal body mass should therefore take into account this important life-history episode. Copyright 2002.

Date: 2002
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
http://hdl.handle.net/ (application/pdf)
Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:oup:beheco:v:13:y:2002:i:6:p:725-727

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
https://academic.oup.com/journals

Access Statistics for this article

Behavioral Ecology is currently edited by Louise Barrett

More articles in Behavioral Ecology from International Society for Behavioral Ecology Oxford University Press, Great Clarendon Street, Oxford OX2 6DP, UK.
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Oxford University Press ().