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Article: Age-related timing and patterns of prebasic body molt in wood Warblers (Parulidae).
- Article from:
- The Wilson Journal of Ornithology
- Article date:
- September 1, 2006
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2006 Wilson Ornithological Society. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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Molt plays an important role in the life cycle of birds because feathers have multiple functions, such as display during courtship (e.g., Beehler 1983), thermoregulation (Schieltz and Murphy 1997), and protection from dermal parasites (Post and Enders 1970). Most importantly, birds must replace their feathers before progressive wear impedes flight (Ginn and Melville 1983). However, molting consumes large amounts of energy and protein reserves to produce new feathers and to compensate for the effects of reduced insulation and decreased flight efficiency (Dolnik and Gavrilov 1979; Murphy and King 1991, 1992). To minimize energetic constraints and avoid undue overlap with ...