Fecal metabarcoding and food-supplementation in Eastern Bluebirds and Tree Swallows

Dietary interventions are known to impact gut microbiome composition, but long-term effects and to what extent these impacts vary among individuals at different life history stages is unclear. To address this question, we performed a supplemental feeding experiment by providing live mealworms (Tenebrio molitor) to Eastern Bluebirds (Sialia sialis) during the chick-rearing period. We produced 16S metabarcoding data to quantify gut microbiome diversity from fecal samples of adults and nestlings collected during our experimental period, and again one year later when individuals returned to breed at the study site.