Stopover departure decisions in autumn are not associated with constitutive immune function in Northern Wheatears Oenanthe oenanthe

• Stopover periods in between migratory flights determine the speed of migration and as such may affect birds’ fitness. The decision to leave a stopover site is affected by, for example, energy stores and weather conditions. We investigated whether immunological state influences autumn stopover departure decisions in Northern Wheatear (Oenanthe oenanthe), a nocturnal long-distance migrant. We measured three parameters of constitutive immune function: microbial killing capacity, haptoglobin, and total immunoglobulins. None of them explained variation in departure probability, minimum stopover duration, or departure time within the night. Thus, we did not find an effect of the birds’ immunological state on stopover departure decisions.

Subject headings

NATURVETENSKAP  -- Biologi -- Zoologi (hsv//swe)

NATURAL SCIENCES  -- Biological Sciences -- Zoology (hsv//eng)

Keyword

Departure cues

Fitness

Immunity

Migration

Stopover

Telemetry

Publication and Content Type

art (subject category)

ref (subject category)