The Company of Biologists

Table 1.

Profiles for both experimental groups of captive female eiders(corticosterone and control group), sampled during their early phase of incubation

	Female group
	1: Corticosterone females	2: Control females
Before implantation
Initial clutch size (eggs)	3.82±0.12^a	3.54±0.16^a
Tarsus length (cm)	6.15±0.05^a	6.21±0.04^a
Wing length (cm)	29.14±0.15^a	29.45±0.17^a
Time of sampling (days)	10.27±0.76^a	11.00±1.00^a
Body mass at sampling (g)	1687±39^a	1753±34^a
Immunoglobulin level (absorbance units)	1.04±0.06^a	0.94±0.07^a
[Corticosterone] (ng ml⁻¹)	14.34±2.17^a	14.11±1.63^a
After implantation
Time of sampling (days)	14.27±0.76^a	15.00±1.00^a
Body mass at sampling (g)	1430±33^a	1575±32^b
Total body mass loss (g)	257.09±13.12^a	178.55±8.42^b
Immunoglobulin level (absorbance units)	0.57±0.05^a	0.70±0.05^a
T-cell-mediated immune response (mm)	0.72±0.14^a	0.97±0.18^a
[Corticosterone] (ng ml⁻¹)	109.90±8.16^a	14.70±1.85^b

	Female group
	1: Corticosterone females	2: Control females
Before implantation
Initial clutch size (eggs)	3.82±0.12^a	3.54±0.16^a
Tarsus length (cm)	6.15±0.05^a	6.21±0.04^a
Wing length (cm)	29.14±0.15^a	29.45±0.17^a
Time of sampling (days)	10.27±0.76^a	11.00±1.00^a
Body mass at sampling (g)	1687±39^a	1753±34^a
Immunoglobulin level (absorbance units)	1.04±0.06^a	0.94±0.07^a
[Corticosterone] (ng ml⁻¹)	14.34±2.17^a	14.11±1.63^a
After implantation
Time of sampling (days)	14.27±0.76^a	15.00±1.00^a
Body mass at sampling (g)	1430±33^a	1575±32^b
Total body mass loss (g)	257.09±13.12^a	178.55±8.42^b
Immunoglobulin level (absorbance units)	0.57±0.05^a	0.70±0.05^a
T-cell-mediated immune response (mm)	0.72±0.14^a	0.97±0.18^a
[Corticosterone] (ng ml⁻¹)	109.90±8.16^a	14.70±1.85^b

Time of samplin g' indicates incubation stage.

Values are means ± s.e.m., N=11 for each group.

Different superscript letters indicate a significant difference between groups (T-tests).