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Factors influencing the fat load variation in three wintering bird species under stable food access conditions

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Abstract

Winter is one of the crucial periods of the bird’s year-round life cycle. Fat reserves in bird species are prone to a wide range of factors, with weather conditions and a bird’s social status being two major ones. In our study we analysed the variation in fat reserves in birds with stable, constant access to food resources in three of the most common wintering species: the great tit Parus major, the blue tit Cyanistes caeruleus and the greenfinch Chloris chloris. The highest mean value of fat score was found in the greenfinch, whereas in both species of tits these values were equally lower. For all three species the amount of fat reserve was correlated with the same factors. It increased together with the decrease of mean average temperature, and with the course of daytime as well as the season-site index (calculated as data collected at a given site in a particular year). Contrary to many previous surveys we did not find dependence of the fat score level on individual dominance status, which is probably linked to the abundance of food in catching sites.

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Acknowledgments

The authors are very grateful to all participants who helped with the fieldwork, and to Łukasz Jankowiak for help in preparation of the paper. Thanks go to Mateusz Ściborski and Marzena Stańska for improving the English, and to reviewers for suggestions that helped to improve the manuscript. This research complied with the current laws of Poland.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Zoology, Faculty of Natural Science, Siedlce University of Natural Sciences and Humanities, Prusa 12, 08-110, Siedlce, Poland

    Artur Goławski

  2. Department of Environmental Protection and Management, Bialystok University of Technology, Wiejska 45a, 15-351, Białystok, Poland

    Michał Polakowski

  3. Institute of Nature Conservation, Polish Academy of Sciences, Al. Mickiewicza 33, 31-120, Kraków, Poland

    Piotr Filimowski

  4. Bird Migration Research Station, University of Gdańsk, Wita Stwosza 59, 80–308, Gdańsk, Poland

    Katarzyna Stępniewska & Krzysztof Stępniewski

  5. Wapnica, ul. Turkusowa 22B, 72-500, Międzyzdroje, Poland

    Grzegorz Kiljan

  6. Ul. Gnieźnieńska 19/5, 85-313, Bydgoszcz, Poland

    Dawid Kilon

Authors
  1. Artur Goławski
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  2. Michał Polakowski
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  3. Piotr Filimowski
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  4. Katarzyna Stępniewska
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Correspondence to Artur Goławski.

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Goławski, A., Polakowski, M., Filimowski, P. et al. Factors influencing the fat load variation in three wintering bird species under stable food access conditions. J Ethol 33, 205–211 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10164-015-0433-9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10164-015-0433-9

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