QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced] Author: Keyword(s):
Home     Help     Feedback     Subscriptions     Archive     Search     Table of Contents

This Article Figures Only Full Text Full Text (PDF) Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Kelly, J. P. Articles by Weathers, W. W. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Kelly, J. P. Articles by Weathers, W. W.

The Journal of Experimental Biology 205, 109-120 (2002)
© 2002 The Company of Biologists Limited

Effects of weather on daily body mass regulation in wintering dunlin

John P. Kelly^1,*, Nils Warnock², Gary W. Page² and Wesley W. Weathers³

¹ Cypress Grove Research Center, Audubon Canyon Ranch, PO Box 808, Marshall, CA 94940, USA,
² Point Reyes Bird Observatory, 4990 Shoreline Highway, Stinson Beach, CA 94970, USA and
³ Department of Animal Sciences, University of California, Davis, CA 95616, USA

*Author for correspondence (e-mail: kellyjp{at}svn.net)

Accepted 16 October 2001

We investigated the influence of changes in weather associated with winter storms on mass balance, activity and food consumption in captive dunlin (Calidris alpina) held in outdoor aviaries, and compared the aviary results with weather-related body mass differences in free-living dunlin collected at Bolinas Lagoon, California. Captive birds fed ad libitum increased their body mass at higher wind speeds and lower temperatures, suggesting regulation of energy stores, whereas free-living birds exhibited patterns suggesting thermoregulatory limits on body mass regulation. Daily energy expenditure in aviary dunlin was 2.85 kJ g d^–1, or 2.8x basal metabolic rate (BMR), with thermostatic costs averaging 59 % of daily expenditure. Slight but significant increases in body mass and energy expenditure in captive birds on rainy days, adjusted for possible external water mass, suggested rainfall as a proximate cue in regulating daily body mass. Body mass changes under artificial rainfall indicated similar results, and field masses suggested that free-living birds have greater body mass on days with measurable rainfall. Increased activity costs under artificial rainfall were associated with an increase in maintenance activities, relative to controls. Whether activity costs increased on days with natural rates of rainfall was unclear. Our results are consistent with current hypotheses regarding the role of body mass regulation in providing insurance against increased starvation risk during deteriorating thermal or foraging conditions, or in reducing the costs of extra mass as conditions improve.

Key words: Calidris alpina, dunlin, shorebird, wader, energy balance, rainfall, winter storm, Tomales Bay, Bolinas Lagoon.

This article has been cited by other articles:

				F. Vezina, K. M. Jalvingh, A. Dekinga, and T. Piersma Thermogenic side effects to migratory predisposition in shorebirds Am J Physiol Regulatory Integrative Comp Physiol, March 1, 2007; 292(3): R1287 - R1297. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				F. Vezina, K. M. Jalvingh, A. Dekinga, and T. Piersma Acclimation to different thermal conditions in a northerly wintering shorebird is driven by body mass-related changes in organ size J. Exp. Biol., August 15, 2006; 209(16): 3141 - 3154. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				J. P. Kelly and W. W. Weathers Effects of feeding time constraints on body mass regulation and energy expenditure in wintering dunlin (Calidris alpina) Behav. Ecol., November 1, 2002; 13(6): 766 - 775. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]