Total blood haemoglobin concentration is increasingly being used to assess physiological
condition in wild birds, although it has not been explicitly recognized how reliably this …

We review evidence for and against the use of erythrocyte indicators of health status and
condition, parasite infection level and physiological stress in free‐living vertebrates. The use …

1. Developmental maturity (eg body condition, body mass) at major life-history transitions is
known to affect fitness across a wide range of taxa. 2. Fledging (leaving the nest), a major …

Several studies have previously proposed that blood hemoglobin concentration in nestling
passerines is a reliable index of individual condition and nutritional state. In this paper we …

Background Moult is one of the most costly activities in the annual cycle of birds and most
avian species separate moult from other energy-demanding activities, such as migration. To …

It has been suggested that extreme weather events may be treated as natural experiments
that may unravel the mechanisms by which birds adjust their phenology and breeding …

Gut microbiota are increasingly recognized as important drivers of host health and fitness
across vertebrate taxa. Given that gut microbial composition is directly influenced by the …

Cities are potentially stressful environments for birds for numerous reasons, including their
high volumes of pedestrian and vehicular traffic. Native birds inhabiting cities tolerate such …

Nestlings of many bird species are hosts to hematophagous ectoparasites. Parasitism of
nestlings is usually sub‐lethal, but its effects can extend into the fledgling and adult stages …

Recent studies have reported beneficial carryover effects of juvenile development that
predict interspecific survival differences at independence. Yet, traits relating to body size (ie …