Chronological age, biological age, and individual variation in the stress response in the European starling: a follow-up study.

The strength of the avian stress response declines with age. A recently published study of European starlings () found that a marker of biological age predicted the strength of the stress response even in individuals of the same chronological age. Specifically, birds that had experienced greater developmental telomere attrition (DTA) showed a lower peak corticosterone (CORT) response to an acute stressor, and more rapid recovery of CORT levels towards baseline.