The energy cost of loaded flight is substantially lower than expected due to alterations in flight kinematics

Journal of Experimental Biology

Volumn 207, Issue 22, 2004, Pages 3969-3976

  Hambly, C ^a   Harper, E J ^b   Speakman, J R ^a,c  

^a UNIVERSITY OF ABERDEEN   (United Kingdom)

^b WALTHAM CENTRE FOR PET NUTRITION   (United Kingdom)

^c ROWETT RESEARCH INSTITUTE   (United Kingdom)

Author keywords

Cockatiel; Flight cost; Kinematics; Labelled bicarbonate; Nyphicus hollandicus; Wing loading

Indexed keywords

BICARBONATE; CARBON;

ANIMAL; ARTICLE; BIOMECHANICS; BODY WEIGHT; CALORIMETRY; COCKATOO; COMPARATIVE STUDY; ENERGY METABOLISM; FLYING; FORELIMB; OXYGEN CONSUMPTION; PHYSIOLOGY; REGRESSION ANALYSIS;

ANIMALS; BIOMECHANICS; BODY WEIGHT; CALORIMETRY, INDIRECT; CARBON ISOTOPES; COCKATOOS; ENERGY METABOLISM; FLIGHT, ANIMAL; OXYGEN CONSUMPTION; REGRESSION ANALYSIS; SODIUM BICARBONATE; WING;

AVES; NYMPHICUS HOLLANDICUS;

EID: 10344256767     PISSN: 00220949     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1242/jeb.01234     Document Type: Article

References (22)

1. Brodin, A. (2001). Mass-dependant predation and metabolic expenditure in wintering birds: is there a trade-off between different forms of predation? Anim. Behav. 62, 993-999.
2. Gessaman, J. A. and Nagy, K. A. (1988). Transmitter loads affect the flight speed and metabolism of homing pigeons. Condor 90, 662-668.
3. 13C labelled bicarbonate. J. Comp. Physiol. 172, 529-539.
4. Hambly, C., Pinshow, B., Wiersma, P., Verhulst, S., Piertney, S. B., Harper, E. J. and Speakman, J. R. (2004). Comparison of the cost of short flights in a nectarivorous and a non-nectarivorous bird. J. Exp. Biol. 207, 3959-3968.
5. Hayes, J. P., Speakman, J. R. and Racey, P. A. (1992). Sampling bias in respirometry. Physiol. Zool. 65, 604-619.
6. Hughes, P. M. and Rayner, J. M. V. (1991). Addition of artificial loads to long eared bats Plecotus auritus: handicapping flight performance. J. Exp. Biol. 161, 285-298.
7. Klaassen, M. and Lindstrom. A. (1996). Departure fuel loads in time-minimising migrating birds can be explained by the energy cost of being heavy. J. Theor. Biol. 183, 29-34.
8. Kullberg, C., Fransson, T. and Jakobsson, S. (1996). Impaired predator evasion in fat blackcaps (Sylvia atricapilla). Proc. R. Soc. Lond. B 263, 1671-1675.
9. Kullberg, C., Metcalfe, N. B. and Houston, D. C. (2002). Impaired flight ability during incubation in the pied flycatcher. J. Avian Biol. 33, 179-183.
10. Kvist, A., Lindstrom. A., Green, M., Piersma, T. and Visser, H. (2001). Carrying large fuel loads during sustained bird flight is cheaper than expected. Nature 412, 730-731.
11. Lee, S. J., Witter, M. S., Cuthill, I. C. and Goldsmith, A. R. (1996). Reduction in escape performance as a cost of reproduction in gravid starlings, Sturnus vulgaris. Proc. R. Soc. Lond. B 263, 619-624.
12. Merila, J. and Wiggins, D. A. (1997). Mass loss in breeding blue tits: the role of energetic stress. J. Anim. Ecol. 66, 452-460.
13. Metcalfe, N. B. and Ure, S. E. (1995). Diurnal variation in flight performance and hence potential predation risk in small birds. Proc. R. Soc. Lond. B 261, 395-400.
14. Nudds, R. L. and Bryant, D. M. (2002). Consequences of load carrying by birds during short flights and is found to be behavioural and not energetic. Am. J. Physiol. 283, R249-R256.
15. Piersma, T. (1998). Phenotypic flexibility during migration: optimization of organ size contingent on the risks and rewards of fuelling and flight. J. Avian. Biol. 29, 511-520.
16. Pennycuick, C. J. (1989). Bird Flight Performance: A Practical Calculation Manual. Oxford University Press.
17. Pennycuick, C. J., Klaassen, M., Kvist, A. and Lindström, Å. (1996). Wing beat frequency and the body drag anomaly: wind tunnel observations on a thrush nightingale (Luscinia luscinia) and a teal (Anas crecca). J. Exp. Biol. 199, 2757-2765.
18. Rayner, J. M. V (1999). Estimating power curves for flying vertebrates. J. Exp. Biol. 202, 3449-3461.
19. Speakman, J. R. and Racey, P. A. (1991). No cost of echolocation for bats in flight. Nature 350, 421-423.
20. Tobalske, B. W., Hedrick, T. L., Dial K. P. and Biewener, A. A. (2003). Comparative power curves in bird flight. Nature 421, 363-366.
21. Van der Veen, I. T. and Lindstrom, K. M. (2000). Escape flights of yellowhammers and greenfinches: more than just physics. Anim. Behav. 59, 593-601.
22. Videler, J. J., Growenewegen, A., Gnodde, M. and Voddebelt, G. (1988). Indoor flight experiments with trained kestrels II. The effect of added weight on flapping flight kinematics. J. Exp. Biol. 134, 185-199.