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Estimating The Latitudinal Origins Of Migratory Birds Using Hydrogen And Sulfur Stable Isotopes In Feathers: Influence Of Marine Prey Base, Casey A. Lott, Timothy D. Meehan, Julie A. Heath
Estimating The Latitudinal Origins Of Migratory Birds Using Hydrogen And Sulfur Stable Isotopes In Feathers: Influence Of Marine Prey Base, Casey A. Lott, Timothy D. Meehan, Julie A. Heath
Julie Heath
Hydrogen stable isotope analysis of feathers is an important tool for estimating the natal or breeding latitudes of nearctic-neotropical migratory birds. This method is based on the latitudinal variation of hydrogen stable isotope ratios in precipitation in North America (iDp) and the inheritance of this variation in newly formed feathers (iDf). We hypothesized that the typically strong relationship between iDp and iDf would be decoupled in birds that forage in marine food webs because marine waters have relatively high iD values compared to iD values for local precipitation. Birds that forage on marine prey bases should also have feathers with …