DOI: 10.5061/dryad.73n5tb38g
title: Data from: Grooming time parallels molt intensity in wild-caught feral Rock Pigeons

description: Feathers are critical for locomotion, communication, thermoregulation,
 waterproofing, and protection from UV radiation. To maintain these
 functions, birds care for their feathers by grooming, which consists of
 preening with the bill and scratching with the feet. Grooming cleans and
 arranges feathers, distributes preen oil and powder down, and removes
 ectoparasites. Birds devote considerable time and energy to grooming, to
 the exclusion of other activities, such as foraging. All else being equal,
 birds should aim to minimize their grooming time. Seasonal changes in
 grooming have been documented, with some species of birds grooming more in
 summer than winter. The higher rate of summer grooming may be caused by
 molt; however, the relationship between the dynamics of grooming and molt
 have been quantified only in captive birds subject to other manipulation,
 such as induced molt in poultry, or access to mates in Zebra Finches. We
 conducted an eight-month study of wild-caught feral Rock Pigeons (Columba
 livia) to compare rates of grooming and molt. We found that the intensity
 of grooming parallels the intensity of molt throughout the molt cycle.
 Pigeons more than double their grooming time at peak molt, consistent with
 patterns observed in wild birds. Our results suggest that molt may be more
 energetically costly than previously realized, given concomitant increases
 in grooming.
description: # Data from: Grooming time parallels molt intensity in wild-caught feral
 Rock Pigeons Dataset DOI:
 [10.5061/dryad.73n5tb38g](10.5061/dryad.73n5tb38g) ## Description of the
 data and file structure This dataset contains five .csv files with data
 collected for study of the relationship between grooming behavior and molt
 in a captive population (n=25) of wild-caught feral rock pigeons (Columba
 livia). "Behavior_ScanSamples" is a dataset with 46522
 behavioral observations (using instantaneous scan sampling) taken from
 April to November, 2023. "Primary Molt": is a data file that
 provides the Julian calendar date that primary feathers molted (defined as
 a missing feather or newly emerging feather), as noted during six visual
 exams during the course of the study. "Body Molt": is a dataset
 that details which of eight body regions were molting during six visual
 exams. "Summary_Data LMM" provides a summary of the molting and
 grooming data used to run Linear Mixed Effect models. Data are summarized
 per bird, per observation period. The "molt index" is the number
 of body regions molting. Grooming Time (%) is the proportion of time a
 bird was recorded as either "preening" or "scratching"
 during each observation period. "Summary_Data ChiSquare": is a
 summary of the % time pigeons spent engaged in four behaviors [(1)
 grooming (preening + scratching), (2) feeding, (3) moving, or (4)
 motionless], relative to their molt status [(1) little to no molt, (2)
 peak molt]. In a few instances, data are missing; these cases are
 indicated by an "x". ### Files and variables #### File:
 Summary\_\_Data\_ChiSquare.csv **Description:** This is a summary of the %
 time pigeons spent engaged in four behaviors [(1) grooming (preening +
 scratching), (2) feeding, (3) moving, or (4) motionless], relative to
 their molt status [(1) little to no molt, (2) peak molt]. ##### Variables
 * Molt status: Pigeon behavior in observation periods with "little to
 no molt" (= observation periods 1, 2, 3, and 6) compared to
 observation periods during "peak molt" (periods 4 and 5). *
 Behavior: Indicates the category of behavior being summarized. * Observed:
 Indicates the number of observations of a particular behavior. *
 Expected: Indicates the number of observations of a particular behavior
 that were expected under a null model of no difference. * Observations as
 % of total: Percent of time birds engaged in each behavior given their
 molt status. * Standardized residuals: Standardized residuals generated
 from Chi-Square Analysis. #### File: Summary\_Data\_LMM.csv
 **Description:** his file provides a summary of the molting and grooming
 data used to run Linear Mixed Effect models. Data are summarized per bird,
 per observation period. The "molt index" is the number of body
 regions molting. Grooming Time (%) is the proportion of time a bird was
 recorded as either "preening" or "scratching" during
 each observation period. ##### Variables * Observation Period: Indicates
 which four week observation period the data were collected. * Bird
 ID: Indicates the unique code assigned to each of the 25 birds in the
 study. * Sex: Indicates if the bird is "female" or
 "male" * Molt index (# Body regions molting):  Sum of the number
 of regions with molting feathers. * Grooming time (%): Indicates the
 percentage of time a given bird spent grooming during a particular 4-week
 observation period. #### File: Body\_molt.csv **Description:** This file
 is a dataset that details which of eight body regions were molting during
 six visual exams during the course of the study: Body regions are: (1)
 Crown, (2) Nape, (3) Back, (4) Rump, (5) Neck & Breast, (6) Keel, (7)
 Flank, (8) Vent. A region was considered to be molting if at least 10% of
 the feathers were newly emerging pin feathers (=1), otherwise regions were
 recorded as not molting (=0).  Missing data indicated by "x".
 ##### Variables * Observation Period: Indicates which four week
 observation period the data were collected. * Date: Indicates the day of
 the year for each observation. * Bird ID: Indicates the unique code
 assigned to each of the 25 birds in the study. * Crown: "1"
 indicates if this region is molting, "0" indicates it is not
 molting. * Nape: "1" indicates if this region is molting,
 "0" indicates it is not molting. * Back: "1" indicates
 if this region is molting, "0" indicates it is not molting. *
 Rump: "1" indicates if this region is molting, "0"
 indicates it is not molting. * Keel: "1" indicates if this
 region is molting, "0" indicates it is not molting. *
 Neck&Breast: "1" indicates if this region is molting,
 "0" indicates it is not molting. * Flank: "1"
 indicates if this region is molting, "0" indicates it is not
 molting. * Vent: "1" indicates if this region is molting,
 "0" indicates it is not molting. * Molt index (sum of molting
 regions): Sum of the number of regions with molting feathers. *
 Notes: Detailed comments for a few cases that had abnormalities. ####
 File: Behavior\_ScanSamples.csv **Description:** The file is a dataset
 with 46522 behavioral observations (using instantaneous scan sampling)
 taken from April to November, 2023. ##### Variables * Observation
 Period: Indicates which four week observation period the data were
 collected. * Month: Indicates which month of the year for each observation
 (i.e., data collected in April = 4, data collected in May = 5, etc.) *
 Week: Indicates which week of the year for each observation. *
 Date: Indicates the day of the year for each observation. *
 Time: Indicates the time of day for each observation. *
 Behavior: Indicates the behavior the bird was engaged in at time noted. *
 Bird ID: Indicates the unique code assigned to each of the 25 birds in the
 study. #### File: Primary\_molt.csv **Description:**  This file provides
 the Julian calendar date that primary feathers molted (defined as a
 missing feather or newly emerging feather), as noted during six visual
 exams during the course of the study. Missing data indicated by
 "x", and "." indicates that a feather was present
 during the exam, and that it was not a newly emerging flight feather.
 ##### Variables * Observation Period:  Indicates which four week
 observation period the data were collected. * Date: Indicates the day of
 the year for each observation. * Julian Date: Indicates the day of the
 year, written in the form of Julian Date. * Bird ID: Indicates the unique
 code assigned to each of the 25 birds in the study. * Primary feathers
 that are emerging or missing: Summary or the primary feathers that were
 missing or emerging on each bird for each of the six visual examinations. 
 If not feathers are emerging or missing the cell reads "none",
 otherwise the number of the primary is indicated (e.g. "p1",
 "p2", etc.). ## Code/software These data were curated in Excel
 and saved as a .csv file.  They can be opened with any software that can
 open comma-separated values. ## Access information Other publicly
 accessible locations of the data: * none Data was derived from the
 following sources: * original study of wild-caught captive feral pigeons