Free and Forced Diving in Birds

Heart rates were measured during free and forced diving on each of two species of aquatic birds: the double-crested cormorant ( Phalacrocorax auritus ), a true diver, and the Canada goose ( Branta canadensis ), a bottom feeder in shallow water. When they immersed voluntarily they showed no bradycard...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Science
Main Authors: Kanwisher, John W., Gabrielsen, Geir, Kanwisher, Nancy
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:English
Published: American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) 1981
Subjects:
Branta canadensis
Canada Goose
Online Access:http://dx.doi.org/10.1126/science.7192883
https://www.science.org/doi/pdf/10.1126/science.7192883
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Summary:Heart rates were measured during free and forced diving on each of two species of aquatic birds: the double-crested cormorant ( Phalacrocorax auritus ), a true diver, and the Canada goose ( Branta canadensis ), a bottom feeder in shallow water. When they immersed voluntarily they showed no bradycardia, but when the same birds were forcibly held under water there was a rapid drop in heart rate to well below that at rest. This decrease indicates that there may be a large component of emotional stress in the heart rate records from previous diving studies where restrained animals were forcibly submerged.

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