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Theses/Dissertations

1993

American kestrels

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Fat Content Of American Kestrels (Falco Sparverius) And Sharp-Shinned Hawks (Accipiter Striatus) Estimated By Total Body Electrical Conductivity, Shari M. Harden May 1993

Fat Content Of American Kestrels (Falco Sparverius) And Sharp-Shinned Hawks (Accipiter Striatus) Estimated By Total Body Electrical Conductivity, Shari M. Harden

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Total body electrical conductivity (TOBEC) is a noninvasive method for the estimation of lean mass in live subjects. Lipid content can be calculated from the body mass measured and the lean mass estimated from TOBEC. I used live American Kestrels (Falco sparverius) to study the accuracy of this method. TOBEC measurements were compared to actual body content determined by Soxhlet fat extraction using petroleum ether as the solvent. TOBEC estimated 73.7% of the variation in lean mass in a sample of 21 kestrels. The use of restraining devices (Vetrap and cardboard cylinders) altered the TOBEC measurement but only …