Our latest project experiment was completed successfully! We kept very lean Garden warblers in cages for five days while in fattening stage and gathered data regarding body mass rate of change, food consumption and fuel deposition rates.
Furthermore, using custom made PIR motion sensors we quantified each bird’s migratory restlessness. These data will help us study individuals’ migration strategy regarding stopover duration.
Will our results be consistent with Optimal Migration Theory? How fast are Garden Warblers refuelling? What genes are implicated in this process? Soon our samples will be sequenced and these questions will be answered, so stay tuned!
