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Multivariate Analyses Of Mid-Winter Fattening In Two Species Of Passerine Birds, Michael Harold Shelor

Theses and Dissertations

Although the adaptive significance of daily and seasonal fattening of birds has been studied by many investigators (see Odum, 1965; King, 1972; Blem, 1976a), surprisingly little is known about the interactions of proximate and ultimate environmental factors regulating avian lipid levels. An exception is the study by Evans (1969). He found that lipid levels in Yellow Buntings (Emberiza citrinella) were more closely correlated with long-term temperature averages than with temperatures of the day of capture, or the days preceding or following capture. This is an indication that temperature may be more important as an ultimate control of fattening, through natural …