Reproductive effort reduces long-term immune function in breeding tree swallows (Tachycineta bicolor)

Glucocorticoids and parental effort in tree swallows (Tachycineta bicolor)

Reproductive success and contaminants in tree swallows (Tachycineta bicolor) breeding at a wastewater treatment plant.

The uptake and effects of contaminants were measured in the insectivorous tree swallow (Tachycineta bicolor) at a wastewater treatment site. The study examined reproductive, immunological, and growth endpoints in tree swallows exposed to chlorinated hydrocarbon contaminants and to 4-nonylphenol in wastewater lagoons at the Iona Wastewater Treatment Plant, Vancouver (BC, Canada). Clutch size was...

Short-term and Long-term Consequences of Predator Avoidance by Tree Swallows (Tachycineta bicolor)

Transgenerational effects of maternal immune challenge in tree swallows (Tachycineta bicolor)

The fact that avian eggs contain antibody of maternal origin is well documented, but only recently has this phenomenon been considered in an ecological context. We used tree swallows (Tachycineta bicolor) to examine the possibility of transgenerational immunity and its effect on nestling growth and immune development. We measured cell-mediated immunity with a delayed-hypersensitivity assay and ...

Effects of mercury exposure on the reproductive success of tree swallows (Tachycineta bicolor).

An experimental tree swallow population was established in the headwaters of the Shenandoah River, Virginia, USA to assess the accumulation and effects of mercury contamination on birds that eat emergent aquatic insects. One tributary, the South River, was contaminated with mercury before 1950. Reproductive success of swallows nesting within 50 m of this river was compared to that of three unco...