Description

Black wheatears are small birds in Spain and Morocco. Males of the species demonstrate an exaggerated sexual display by carrying many heavy stones to nesting cavities. This 35–gram bird transports, on average, 3.1 kg of stones per nesting season! Different males carry somewhat different sized stones, prompting a study on whether larger stones may be a signal of higher health status. Soler et al. calculated the average stone mass (g) carried by each of 21 male black wheatears, along with T-cell response measurements reflecting their immune systems' strengths.

Usage

Format

A data frame with 21 observations on the following 2 variables.

Mass

average mass of stones carried by bird (in g)

Tcell

T-cell response measurement (in mm)

Source

Ramsey, F.L. and Schafer, D.W. (2002). The Statistical Sleuth: A Course in Methods of Data Analysis (2nd ed), Duxbury.

References

Soler, M., Martín-Vivaldi, M., Marín J. and Møller, A. (1999). Weight lifting and health status in the black wheatears, Behavioral Ecology 10(3): 281–286.

Examples