Geographic Variation in Mid-Winter Body Composition of Starlings

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Abstract
Starlings (S. vulgaris) collected during mid-winter from a 2800-km longitudinal range in the eastern USA showed significant geographic variation in body weight, feather weight, wing length, culmen length, tarsus length, dry weight, lean dry weight, lipid weight and lipid index. Total lipid reserves and indices were greatest at middle latitudes. Starlings from the central part of the study area were significantly larger than those at either northern or southern extremes as measured by wing length, body weight and lean dry weight. Insulation, as measured by weight of body feathers per unit of surface area, increased with isophane, an index of regional temperature, but morphometric measures were generally less interpretable.