Abstract

ABSTRACT. Females may engage in extrapair copulations to receive indirect benefits in the form of more immunocompetent young. Nestling quality is often assessed by examining immune function using the phytohemagglutinin (PHA) skin test, which can be a predictor of nestling recruitment. However, the PHA test can also be influenced by factors such as nest temperature. We tested the prediction that extrapair young mount greater immune responses to a PHA challenge and recruit at a greater rate than within-pair young in a wild population of Savannah Sparrows (Passerculus sandwichensis). We also investigated ambient temperature and its relationship with immune response. Extra-and within-pair young did not significantly differ with respect to PHA-induced immune response or with respect to recruitment. In contrast to other studies, we found that PHA-induced immune response was not associated with nestling recruitment rates. However, it was positively correlated with minimum ambient temperature for males hatched in...

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