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Funding
Funding for this research was provided by:
National Natural Science Foundation of China (41676123)
the Ministry of Science and Technology of China (2016YFC0502904)
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Article History
Received: 4 July 2019
Accepted: 30 October 2020
First Online: 20 November 2020
Compliance with ethical standards
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: We declare that we have no conflict of interests.
: This research and all procedures involving collection of animal tissue in the wild were approved by the Administration Center for Wildlife Conservation in Fujian Province (FJWCA-1208). The scientific license for access to the study site was issued by the Administration Department of Xiamen Egret Natural Reserve (XMENR-1005). Feathers were plucked from nestlings (aged around 10 days) of the Chinese egret (<i>Egretta eulophotes</i>) or other ardeid species. The nestlings were immediately returned to the nest after stanching the wound with cotton. Collection of samples was conducted in the morning during the breeding season, and visits to a breeding colony were restricted to a maximum of two hours per day.
