Overview:

Migration is one of the most taxing periods of a bird’s annual cycle. My presentation will focus on how blood metabolites (glucose, ketones, triglycerides) reflect migration strategies and body condition (fat and muscle) during spring and fall migration. This project determined baseline blood metabolite levels for six study species, how those correlated with fat and muscle, and how migration strategies influenced the overall condition of migratory birds.

About our Speaker:

Tara Beveroth is an associate avian ecologist at the Illinois Natural History Survey Prairie Research Institute of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.