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Basal metabolic rate, food intake, and body mass in cold- and warm-acclimated Garden Warblers

journal contribution
posted on 2023-10-26, 03:19 authored by Marcel KlaassenMarcel Klaassen, M Oltrogge, L Trost
We address the question of whether physiological flexibility in relation to climate is a general feature of the metabolic properties of birds. We tested this hypothesis in hand-raised Garden Warblers (Sylvia borin), long-distance migrants, which normally do not experience great temperature differences between summer and winter. We maintained two groups of birds under cold and warm conditions for 5 months, during which their body mass and food intake were monitored. When relatedness (siblings vs. non-siblings) of the experimental birds was taken into account, body mass in cold-acclimated birds was higher than in warm-acclimated birds. BMR, measured at the end of the 5-month temperature treatment, was also higher in the cold- than the warm-acclimated group. Migrant birds thus seem to be capable of the same metabolic cold-acclimation response as has been reported in resident birds. The data support the hypothesis that physiological flexibility is a basic trait of the metabolic properties of birds.

History

Journal

Comparative biochemistry and physiology : Part A

Volume

137

Pagination

639 - 647

Location

Amsterdam, The Netherlands

ISSN

1095-6433

Language

eng

Publication classification

C Journal article; C1.1 Refereed article in a scholarly journal

Copyright notice

2004, Elsevier