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Full-Text Articles in Life Sciences
Plasma Carotenoid Concentrations Of Incubating American Kestrels (Falco Sparverius) Show Annual, Seasonal, And Individual Variation And Explain Reproductive Outcome, Elizabeth C. Sassani, Christeena Sevy, Erin H. Strasser, Alexandra M. Anderson, Julie A. Heath
Plasma Carotenoid Concentrations Of Incubating American Kestrels (Falco Sparverius) Show Annual, Seasonal, And Individual Variation And Explain Reproductive Outcome, Elizabeth C. Sassani, Christeena Sevy, Erin H. Strasser, Alexandra M. Anderson, Julie A. Heath
Biology Faculty Publications and Presentations
In wild birds, the proximate and ultimate factors that affect circulating carotenoid concentrations remain poorly understood. We studied variation in plasma carotenoid concentrations across several scales: annual, seasonal, pair, territory and individual, and evaluated whether plasma carotenoid concentrations explained reproductive outcome of wild American kestrels (Falco sparverius). We sampled plasma carotenoid concentrations of 99 female and 80 male incubating kestrels from April to June in 2008 to 2012. Plasma carotenoid concentrations were explained by an interaction between year and sex, date, and random effects for pair and individual identity. In general, plasma carotenoid concentrations of males were significantly …