Adipose Tissue Composition and Cell Size in Fall Migratory Thrushes (Turdidae)

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Abstract
The nonfat components of adipose tissue in fall migrant thrushes were essentially stable, despite large changes in total body fat. Photomicrographs showing increases in cell size with increasing fat deposition together with data showing only a small accompanying increase in nonfat tissue components constitute direct evidence for hypertrophy of fat cells as a major mechanism in premigratory fattening. Observed significant differences in iodine numbers between species were attributed to basic species differences. Since no consistent pattern was evident, differences in iodine numbers between stages of fatness within a species were attributed to differences in food available to individuals that may have originated their migratory flights from a wide geographical area to the north.