Skeletal Development at the Time of Fledging in House Wrens

House Wren (Troglodytes aedon) Science Article 1

abstract

We examined skeletal development at the time of first flight in House Wrens (Troglodytes aedon) as one step in assessing whether calcium availability limits nestling growth in this species. Young wrens begin flying with about 49 mg of calcium in their skeletons, 30% less calcium than is found in adult skeletons. Degree of calcification varies greatly from bone to bone at first flight which suggests that, during development, growing nestlings selectively allocate more calcium to certain skeletal components than to others

Chaitali Dutta , Scott Johnson , David Larkin , Luz P. Mangurian, The Condor 100568-573

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