Data for: Arctic seabirds exposed to acute stress display state- and environment-dependent patterns of surface temperature change, independent of mercury contamination

This dataset contains the information necessary to run analyses regarding the effect of environmental and physiological state variables on the ocular temperature of an Artic seabird, the little auk (Alle alle). We used infrared thermography to measure ocular temperature (TEYE) following capture stress, reflective of a thermal stress response (TSR). Measurements were made on 42 little auks (or dovekie) breeding at a large colony situated at Ukaleqarteq (Kap Höegh), East Greenland (70°44′N, 21°35′W). We examined interactive effects of climate change-sensitive environmental conditions (ambient temperature (Ta; °C)), mercury (Hg; mg/g dw) exposure, and body condition (as assessed by the scaled mass index; SMI; g) on patterns of change in TEYE. In addition, for a smaller subset of birds, we also examined whether five blood chemistry parameters which have been implicated in thermoregulation: albumin (ALB; g/dL), aspartate aminotransferase (AST; U/L), total calcium (Ca2+; mg/dL), creatine kinase (CK; U/L), and potassium (K+; mmol/L), affected the nature of surface temperature change following capture, as assessed by change in TEYE.