Short-term oscillations in avian molt intensity: evidence from the golden eagle Aquila chrysaetos

From a year-long study of molt in the golden eagle Aquila chrysaetos, we recorded 2069 contour feathers replaced in 137 d (6 May-19 September). Very few contour feathers were lost outside this period. From precise daily counts of feathers lost, and using time series analysis, we identified short-ter...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inJournal of avian biology Vol. 37; no. 6; pp. 642 - 644
Main Authors Ellis, David H., Lish, James W., Kéry, Marc, Redpath, Stephen M.
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Copenhagen Blackwell Publishing Ltd 01.11.2006
Blackwell Publishing
John Wiley & Sons, Inc
Subjects
Aquila chrysaetos
Biology
Birds
Birds of prey
Communications
Eagles
Feathers
Hormones
Molting
Ornithology
Protein requirement
Time series analysis
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Summary:From a year-long study of molt in the golden eagle Aquila chrysaetos, we recorded 2069 contour feathers replaced in 137 d (6 May-19 September). Very few contour feathers were lost outside this period. From precise daily counts of feathers lost, and using time series analysis, we identified short-term fluctuations (i.e., 19-d subcycles) around a midsummer peak (i.e., a left-skewed normal distribution). Because these subcycles have never before been reported and because the physiological basis for many aspects of avian molt is poorly known, we offer only hypothetical explanations for the controls responsible for the subcycles.
Bibliography:ark:/67375/WNG-3S40Z1FN-3
istex:BE824EDDC0F0941B94D426FBA53D0D524F7819DC
ArticleID:JAV3756
ObjectType-Article-1
SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1
ObjectType-Feature-2
content type line 23
ISSN:0908-8857
1600-048X
DOI:10.1111/j.0908-8857.2006.03756.x