DOI: 10.5061/dryad.1jwstqk18
title: Data for: Preening correlates with lower feather bacteria abundance but not feather coloration in a lek-breeding bird

description: Feathers are structures unique to birds that serve important functions
 such as flight, thermoregulation, and communication. Bacteria that live on
 the feathers, particularly ones that can break down keratin, have the
 potential to damage feathers and disrupt their use in communication. We
 predicted that birds could behaviorally manage their feather bacterial
 abundances by preening their feathers. We also predicted that individuals
 with lower feather bacterial abundances would have brighter and more
 colorful feathers. To test these predictions, we measured the amount of
 time individuals in a colony of captive Indian peafowl (Pavo cristatus)
 spent preening their feathers. We also collected feathers to determine
 bacteria abundance on the feather surface and to measure feather
 coloration. We found that birds had lower feather bacteria levels when
 they spent more time preening their own feathers, but only in female
 birds. We also found that bacteria abundances were not correlated with any
 feather color variables we measured. These results suggest that birds can
 manage feather bacterial abundances by preening but feather bacteria may
 not influence feather coloration in this species.
description: This README file was generated on 2024-03-06 by Melanie Florkowski GENERAL
 INFORMATION 1. Title of Dataset: Data for: Preening correlates with lower
 feather bacteria abundance but not feather coloration in a lek-breeding
 bird 2. Author Information A. Principal Investigator Contact Information
 Name: Jessica Yorzinski Institution: Texas A&M University Email:
 [jessica.yorzinski@agnet.tamu.edu](mailto:jessica.yorzinski@agnet.tamu.edu) B. Associate or Co-investigator Contact Information Name: Melanie Florkowski Institution: Texas A&M University Email: [florkowskim@gmail.com](mailto:florkowskim@gmail.com) 3. Date of data collection (single date, range, approximate date): 2021 4. Geographic location of data collection: College Station, TX, USA 5. Links to publications that cite or use the data: [https://doi.org/10.1111/jav.03209](https://doi.org/10.1111/jav.03209)(forthcoming) \######################################################################### DATA-SPECIFIC INFORMATION FOR: **peafowl_preening_data.csv** 1. Number of variables: 28 2. Number of cases/rows: 31 3. Variable List: *Metal_ID: individual identifier on the metal leg band of each bird *Bird: individual identifier of each bird *BirdID: individual identifier of plastic leg band of each bird *feather_collection_date: date feathers were collected from each individual (mm/dd/yyyy) *sex: sex of the bird, male (m) or female (f) *weight: weight of the bird in kilograms *tarsus: length of the bird's tarsus in milimeters *scaled_mass: *tail_length: length of the peafowl tail in centimeters, only for male birds *back_preening: sum of observed time each bird spend preening their back in seconds *chest_preening: sum of observed time each bird spend preening their chest in seconds *feet_preening: sum of observed time each bird spend preening their feet in seconds *lower_neck_preening: sum of observed time each bird spend preening their neck in seconds *tail_preening: sum of observed time each bird spend preening their tail in seconds *wings_preening: sum of observed time each bird spend preening their wings in seconds *head_preening: sum of observed time each bird spend preening their head in seconds *dustbathing: sum of observed time each bird spend dustbathing in seconds *received_allopreening: sum of observed time each bird was preened by another bird in seconds *gave_allopreening: sum of observed time each bird preened another bird in seconds *total_preening: sum of all observed time each bird preened themselves in seconds *TSA: number of colonies grown on a typtic soy agar plate *FMA: number of colonies grown on a feather meal agar plate *color_hue: average value of hue theta (or red-green-blue hue) measured from neck feathers of each bird *uv_hue: average value of hue phi (or uv hue) measured from neck feathers of each bird *chroma: average value of r.achieved or the saturation of color measured from neck feather of each bird *luminance: average brightness of neck feathers from each bird *color_hue_abs: the absolute value of the color hue value *notes: notes to explain missing data 4. Missing data codes: na 5. Specialized formats or other abbreviations used: None