Thermoregulatory costs of the innate immune response are modulated by winter food availability in a small passerine
In winter, a challenge to the immune system could pose a major energetic trade-off for small endotherms, whereby increasing body temperature (Tb; i.e. eliciting fever) may be beneficial to fight off invading pathogens yet incur a cost for vital energy-saving mechanisms. Having previously shown that the availability and acquisition of energy, through manipulation of food predictability, influences