Meeting Abstract

P3.172  Sunday, Jan. 6  Stress physiology of songbirds in response to bird feeding activities. HUBER, SJ*; WILCOXEN, TE; HORN, DJ; Millikin University; Millikin University; Millikin University shuber@millikin.edu

The purpose of this study was to observe stress physiology and its interaction with reproductive endocrinology in relation to variation in food availability among communities of common feeder-using birds. Over an 18-month period, we observed two measures of stress physiology, heterophil to lymphocyte ratios and baseline corticosterone levels, and made comparisons among birds captured at natural areas with feeders of commercial bird food and similar sites without feeders. We also tested for correlations between the indicators of stress and the sex steroids testosterone and estradiol in males and females respectively. We hypothesized that in the presence of supplemental food, there will be a lower heterophil to lymphocyte ratio and lower corticosterone levels in birds, exemplifying stress-reducing effects of an abundant, predictable food source. Further, we predicted that greater stress would correlate with decreased levels of sex steroids. Overall, our findings offer new information on the relationship between variation in food availability, stress and reproductive physiology in a songbird community.