Body temperature responses of Great Tits Parus major to handling in the cold

Animals typically respond to stressful stimuli such as handling by increasing core body temperature. However, small birds in cold environments have been found to decrease body temperature ( T b ) when handled over longer periods, although there are no data extending beyond the actual handling event in such birds. We therefore measured both the initial T b decrease during ringing and standardized T b sampling, and subsequent recovery of T b after...