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Data for: Preening correlates with lower feather bacteria abundance but not feather coloration in a lek-breeding bird

Florkowski, Melanie1

Published Mar 12, 2024 on Dryad. https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.1jwstqk18

Cite this dataset

Florkowski, Melanie (2024). Data for: Preening correlates with lower feather bacteria abundance but not feather coloration in a lek-breeding bird [Dataset]. Dryad. https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.1jwstqk18

Abstract

Feathers are structures unique to birds that serve important functions such as flight, thermoregulation, and communication. Bacteria that live on the feathers, particularly ones that can break down keratin, have the potential to damage feathers and disrupt their use in communication. We predicted that birds could behaviorally manage their feather bacterial abundances by preening their feathers. We also predicted that individuals with lower feather bacterial abundances would have brighter and more colorful feathers. To test these predictions, we measured the amount of time individuals in a colony of captive Indian peafowl (Pavo cristatus) spent preening their feathers. We also collected feathers to determine bacteria abundance on the feather surface and to measure feather coloration. We found that birds had lower feather bacteria levels when they spent more time preening their own feathers, but only in female birds. We also found that bacteria abundances were not correlated with any feather color variables we measured. These results suggest that birds can manage feather bacterial abundances by preening but feather bacteria may not influence feather coloration in this species.

README

This README file was generated on 2024-03-06 by Melanie Florkowski

GENERAL INFORMATION

  1. Title of Dataset: Data for: Preening correlates with lower feather bacteria abundance but not feather coloration in a lek-breeding bird

  2. Author Information
    A. Principal Investigator Contact Information
    Name: Jessica Yorzinski
    Institution: Texas A&M University
    Email: jessica.yorzinski@agnet.tamu.edu

    B. Associate or Co-investigator Contact Information
    Name: Melanie Florkowski
    Institution: Texas A&M University
    Email: florkowskim@gmail.com

  3. Date of data collection (single date, range, approximate date): 2021

  4. Geographic location of data collection: College Station, TX, USA

  5. Links to publications that cite or use the data: https://doi.org/10.1111/jav.03209(forthcoming)

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DATA-SPECIFIC INFORMATION FOR: peafowl_preening_data.csv

  1. Number of variables: 28

  2. Number of cases/rows: 31

  3. Variable List:
    *Metal_ID: individual identifier on the metal leg band of each bird
    *Bird: individual identifier of each bird
    *BirdID: individual identifier of plastic leg band of each bird
    *feather_collection_date: date feathers were collected from each individual (mm/dd/yyyy)
    *sex: sex of the bird, male (m) or female (f)
    *weight: weight of the bird in kilograms
    *tarsus: length of the bird's tarsus in milimeters
    *scaled_mass:
    *tail_length: length of the peafowl tail in centimeters, only for male birds
    *back_preening: sum of observed time each bird spend preening their back in seconds
    *chest_preening: sum of observed time each bird spend preening their chest in seconds
    *feet_preening: sum of observed time each bird spend preening their feet in seconds
    *lower_neck_preening: sum of observed time each bird spend preening their neck in seconds
    *tail_preening: sum of observed time each bird spend preening their tail in seconds
    *wings_preening: sum of observed time each bird spend preening their wings in seconds
    *head_preening: sum of observed time each bird spend preening their head in seconds
    *dustbathing: sum of observed time each bird spend dustbathing in seconds
    *received_allopreening: sum of observed time each bird was preened by another bird in seconds
    *gave_allopreening: sum of observed time each bird preened another bird in seconds
    *total_preening: sum of all observed time each bird preened themselves in seconds
    *TSA: number of colonies grown on a typtic soy agar plate
    *FMA: number of colonies grown on a feather meal agar plate
    *color_hue: average value of hue theta (or red-green-blue hue) measured from neck feathers of each bird
    *uv_hue: average value of hue phi (or uv hue) measured from neck feathers of each bird
    *chroma: average value of r.achieved or the saturation of color measured from neck feather of each bird
    *luminance: average brightness of neck feathers from each bird
    *color_hue_abs: the absolute value of the color hue value
    *notes: notes to explain missing data

  4. Missing data codes: na

  5. Specialized formats or other abbreviations used: None

Funding

Texas A&M University