title: Free birds aren't fat: Weight gain in captured wild pigeons maintained under laboratory conditions.
abstract: Nine feral pigeons, 5 from an urban setting and 4 from a rural setting, were captured and maintained for 42 days under free-feeding conditions comparable to those arranged for laboratory subjects. On average, birds increased their body weights by 17% over this period. The range of increase across birds was 9 to 30%. These findings suggest that the food deprivation arranged for laboratory pigeons, which is characteristically 80% of free-feeding weights, may in some sense be less severe than it first appears.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Poling
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Nickel
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Alling