Streching the Limits - Comparative Physiology of Avian Thermoregulation in the Heat and Cold

Peer reviewe

Interpopulation Variation in Contour Feather Structure Is Environmentally Determined in Great Tits

Background: The plumage of birds is important for flying, insulation and social communication. Contour feathers cover most of the avian body and among other functions they provide a critical insulation layer against heat loss. Feather structure and composition are known to vary among individuals, which in turn determines variation in the insulation properties of the feather. However, the extent and the proximate mechanisms underlying this variation remain unexplored. Methodology/Principal Findings: We analyzed contour feather structure from two different great tit populations adapted to different winter regimes, one northern population in Oulu (Finland) and one southern population in Lund (Sweden). Great tits from the two populations differed significantly in feather structure. Birds from the northern population had a denser plumage but consisting of shorter feathers with a smaller proportion containing plumulaceous barbs, compared with conspecifics from the southern population. However, differences disappeared when birds originating from the two populations were raised and moulted in identical conditions in a common-garden experiment located in Oulu, under ad libitum nutritional conditions. All birds raised in the aviaries, including adult foster parents moulting in the same captive conditions, developed a similar feather structure. These feathers were different from that of wild birds in Oulu but similar to wild birds in Lund, the latter moulting in more benign conditions than those of Oulu. Conclusions/Significance: Wild populations exposed to different conditions develop contour feather differences either due to plastic responses or constraints. Environmental conditions, such as nutrient availability during feather growth play a crucial role in determining such differences in plumage structure among populations

Specific Appetite for Carotenoids in a Colorful Bird

Background: Since carotenoids have physiological functions necessary for maintaining health, individuals should be selected to actively seek and develop a specific appetite for these compounds. Methodology/Principal Findings: Great tits Parus major in a diet choice experiment, both in captivity and the field, preferred carotenoid-enriched diets to control diets. The food items did not differ in any other aspects measured besides carotenoid content. Conclusions/Significance: Specific appetite for carotenoids is here demonstrated for the first time, placing these compounds on a par with essential nutrients as sodium or calcium

DATA Fed_Non_Fed

Los datos corresponden a un estudio experimental sobre el efecto de los comederos en dos especies de paridos boreales. Encontramos que el acceso a comederos afectaba al peso, el metabolismo y su interaccion con las condiciones ambientales, de modo distinto en cada especie.Peer reviewe

Environmental drivers of roosting body mass variation in boreal Great Tits Parus major

Small wintering passerines adaptively modulate daily body mass acquisition as part of their energy management policy. However, whether birds optimize overnight mass loss or body mass at dawn remains poorly understood. We studied environmental correlates of individual variation in body mass at dusk, overnight mass loss and body mass at dawn in a wild population of Great Tits Parus major wintering in northern Fennoscandia. Body mass at dusk, overnight mass loss and body mass at dawn were independent of prevailing conditions despite extremely low night ambient temperatures. Body mass at dusk was higher in males than in females, and decreased throughout winter and when snowfall was higher in the previous month. Overnight mass loss increased with precipitation during the previous week and tended to be higher in mid-winter, when nights were longest. However, birds reduced overnight mass loss with higher temperatures in the previous week and higher precipitation in the previous 2 weeks. Dawn body mass was strongly correlated with dusk body mass and overnight mass loss, and showed only mild associations with weather variables once dusk mass was accounted for. Body mass in roosting boreal Great Tits seems to be constrained by recent snowfall as the winter progresses, but otherwise appears to be mostly unaffected by previous and current temperatures, suggesting a regular use of facultative hypothermia

Data from: Northward expanding resident species benefit from warming winters through increased foraging rates and predator vigilance

Species distributions shift northwards due to climate change, but the ecological mechanisms allowing range expansions are not fully understood. Most studies have concentrated on breeding seasons, but winter warming may also be important. Wintering distributions are restricted by food availability and temperature, which may also interact. Foraging in cold conditions requires adaptations as individuals have to be efficient in foraging, while staying warm and vigilant for predators. When the ambient temperature declines, foraging rates should be reduced due to increased time spent on warming behaviours. In addition, predator vigilance should decline, because more time has to be invested in foraging. Cold weather should limit northward expanding southern species in particular, while northern species should perform better in cold conditions. We tested this by studying temperature responses (between 0 and − 35 °C) among wintering birds at feeders. We compared foraging behaviours of two northward expanding southern species, the great tit (Parus major) and the blue tit (Cyanistes caeruleus) to a northern species, the willow tit (Poecile montanus). Foraging rate and vigilance decreased, and warming behaviour increased when temperatures declined. Importantly, the performance in these traits was poorer in the southern species compared to the willow tit. Furthermore, the response to decreasing temperatures in foraging rates and warming behaviour was stronger in the great tits than willow tits. As the winters become warmer, these mechanisms should increase wintering success of southern species wintering at high latitudes, and lead to higher survival, increased population growth, and consequent range expansion

Winter feeding influences the cost of living in boreal passerines

Abstract The plastic regulation of internal energy reserves is acknowledged as the main adaptive response to winter conditions of resident small birds in northern latitudes, a strategy that may be altered whenever human‐supplemented food is available. We investigated the effects of supplementary feeding on the energy management strategy of two wild passerine species, the Willow Tit Poecile montanus and Blue Tit Cyanistes caeruleus, wintering in boreal conditions by measuring body mass and the energy cost of living, i.e. basal metabolic rate. Individuals of both species were heavier, larger and exhibited a higher energy cost of living when captured at the feeders than were individuals captured away from feeders. Fed Willow Tits expended more energy in maintenance, although this difference disappeared once mass was accounted for. Conversely, Blue Tits at feeders had higher mass‐adjusted energy cost of living, but only at low ambient temperatures. The results indicate that winter feeding has species‐specific effects on overall energy management strategy and modifies the response to environmental conditions of wintering passerines

Pakanen_et_al_Oecologia_Foraging

Foraging dat