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Journal of Experimental Biology 136,193-208 (1988)
Published by Company of Biologists 1988

The Cooling Power of Pigeon Legs

LUCIE MARTINEAU ¹ and JACQUES LAROCHELLE ¹

¹ Département de Biologie, Université Laval, Québec, Canada, G1K 7P4

The rate of heat loss from legs and feet (H_LEG) was studied in resting pigeons preheated to a body temperature (43.1°C) close to those recorded during flight. The experimental system was designed to allow the calculation of H_LEG from whole-body cooling rates following exposure of the legs and feet to various combinations of wind speed (0-75 km h^-1) and air temperature (5-25°C). The pigeons remained hyperthermic when their hindlimbs were kept insulated, but their bodies cooled markedly as a result of exposure of the legs and feet. With a 12.5km h^-1 wind at 25°C, H_LEG corresponded to 240% of the resting heat production. H_LEG was increased by higher wind speed and lower air temperature, but it became essentially independent of wind speed above 37.5 km ^-1. The maximum values of H_LEG were 4-6 times as large as the resting heat production and could account for 50-65 % of the total heat produced during flight. It is concluded that in a non-aquatic bird the legs and feet can play a major role in whole-body thermoregulation, both at rest and during flight.

Key words: birds, pigeon, temperature regulation, legs, wind, flight

Accepted on November 27, 1987

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