# Animal capture and sampling Adult male Gambel's Quail (*Callipepla gambelii*) were captured from 7 locations around Weddell and Surprise, AZ, USA using Potter traps baited with seeds and grains as well as recordings of conspecific contact calls. All birds were captured between July and September 2015, and within 5 hours after sunrise. All birds were banded to avoid recapture and released at the site of capture immediately after sample collection and body measurements. Scientific collecting and banding permits were obtained from the Arizona Game and Fish Department, and experimental procedures were approved by the Arizona State University Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (IACUC). # Environmental variables Ambient air and ground temperature at the time of sampling were measured (to the nearest 1 degree C) using an infrared thermometer. Because conditions at the times of capture may not reflect the environmental conditions generally, we also calculated average Land Surface Temperature (LST, degree C) from remotely-sensed data collected during summer months of 2015 (Stuhlmacher and Watkins, 2019) within a 1-km radius of the sampling locations. To assess relationships among the morphological and physiological features of quail, and resources associated with urban and rural environments, we characterized the land use and land cover (LULC) within a 1-km radius around the sampling locations. We quantified the number of pixels for twelve LULC types (Building, Road, Soil (i.e., bare ground), Tree, Grass, Shrub, Active Cropland, Inactive Cropland, Orchard, Lake, Canal, Swimming Pool) around each sampling location a using land cover classification based on 1-m resolution satellite imagery (Li, 2015). We used principal component analysis (PCA) to derive two principal components that explained >81% (PC1 = 52.4%, PC2 = 28.7%) of the variation in LULC surrounding the sampling locations. PC1 generally reflected a gradient from urban to rural, loading positively with features such as buildings, roads, and swimming pools, and negatively with cropland, particularly inactive cropland. PC2 also reflected an urbanization gradient but from other urban features, loading positively with grass and lakes (urban features in central Arizona), and negatively with shrubs and soil. # Blood collection Traps were continuously monitored, and a small sample of blood <200 microliter was collected from the jugular vein using a 27-gauge heparin-coated needle immediately upon capture to avoid stress-induced alterations to plasma metabolites. Lidocaine-containing cream was applied topically prior to blood collection as an analgesic. Blood was transferred to microcentrifuge tubes and samples were placed on ice until transport to the laboratory where they were centrifuged at 13,000 rpm (x g) to separate formed elements from plasma. Plasma was stored at -80 degree C until analyses. # Morphometrics After blood collection, skin temperature was measured under the wing to the nearest 0.1 degree using a digital infrared thermometer according to the methods of McCafferty et al. (2015). Body mass was measured to the nearest 0.01 g using a portable balance. Body length from the crown to the cloaca and chest circumference including enfolded wings were measured (in cm) using flexible tension tape. # Blood analyses Plasma triglycerides and free glycerol were measured using a commercially available kit (TR0100; Sigma Aldrich, St. Louis, MO). Plasma total protein concentrations were measured according to the Bradford method (BioRad, Hercules, CA). Plasma glucose concentrations were measured using a kit that detects glucose using the glucose oxidase method (10009582; Cayman Chemical, Ann Arbor, MI). # Literature cited - Li X. 2015. CAP LTER land cover classification using 2010 National Agriculture Imagery Program (NAIP) Imagery. Environmental Data Initiative. https://doi.org/10.6073/pasta/f4aced7e801f1b5e14b43cf755199c04. - McCafferty, D.J., Gallon, S., Nord, A., 2015. Challenges of measuring body temperatures of free-ranging birds and mammals. Anim. Biotelem. 3:33. - Stuhlmacher, M. and L. Watkins. 2019. Remotely-sensed Land Surface Temperature (LST) for the central Arizona region during summer months over five-year periods: 1985-2015 ver 1. Environmental Data Initiative. https://doi.org/10.6073/pasta/c526299a0e4e4f7d6e921aac18528e24.

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This method step describes provenance-based metadata as specified in the LTER EML Best Practices.

This provenance metadata does not contain entity specific information.