In kittiwakes food availability partially explains the seasonal decline in humoral immunocompetence

1 The immune system plays an important role in fitness, and interindividual variation in immunocompetence is due to several factors including food supply. 2 Seasonal variation in food resources may therefore explain why immunocompetence in bird nestlings usually declines throughout the breeding season, with chicks born early in the season receiving more food than chicks born later, and thereby possibly developing a more potent immune system....