Assessment of avian health status: suitability and constraints of the Zoetis VetScan VS2 blood analyser for ecological and evolutionary studies

Biochemical analyses of blood can decipher physiological conditions of living animals and unravel mechanistic underpinnings of life-history strategies and trade-offs. Yet, researchers in ecology and evolution often face constraints in which methods to apply, not least due to blood volume restrictions or field settings. Here, we test the suitability of a portable biochemical analyser (Zoetis VetScan VS2) for ecological and evolutionary studies that may help solve those problems. Using as little as 80 µl of whole-bird blood from free-living Jackdaws (Corvus monedula) and captive Zebra Finches (Taeniopygia guttata), we show that eight (out of 10) blood analytes show high repeatability after short-term storage (approximately 2 h) and six after 12 h storage time. Handling stress had a clear impact on all except two analytes by 16 min after catching. Finally, six analytes showed consistency within individuals over a period of 30 days, and three even showed individual consistency over a year. Taken together, we conclude that the VetScan VS2 captures biologically relevant variation in blood analytes using just 80 µl of whole blood and, thus, provides valuable physiological measurements of (small) birds sampled in semi-field and field conditions.