Fat reserves in snow buntings
Snow buntings (Plectrophenax nivalis) were kept in outdoor and indoor aviaries in Quebec City for 2 years (1970–1972) to study some aspects of their behaviour in winter. Birds kept in isolation or in groups of 2, 4, or 12 individuals were weighed daily at sunset between November and April and once a...
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Canadian Science Publishing
1976
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Online Access: | http://dx.doi.org/10.1139/z76-119 http://www.nrcresearchpress.com/doi/pdf/10.1139/z76-119 |
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crcansciencepubl:10.1139/z76-119 2023-12-17T10:49:01+01:00 Fat reserves in snow buntings Vincent, J. Bédard, J. 1976 http://dx.doi.org/10.1139/z76-119 http://www.nrcresearchpress.com/doi/pdf/10.1139/z76-119 en eng Canadian Science Publishing http://www.nrcresearchpress.com/page/about/CorporateTextAndDataMining Canadian Journal of Zoology volume 54, issue 7, page 1051-1063 ISSN 0008-4301 1480-3283 Animal Science and Zoology Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics journal-article 1976 crcansciencepubl https://doi.org/10.1139/z76-119 2023-11-19T13:38:18Z Snow buntings (Plectrophenax nivalis) were kept in outdoor and indoor aviaries in Quebec City for 2 years (1970–1972) to study some aspects of their behaviour in winter. Birds kept in isolation or in groups of 2, 4, or 12 individuals were weighed daily at sunset between November and April and once a week during the rest of the year. A very great spring premigratory fattening occurs in early March, relating to the precocity of the spring migration and to the absence of prebreeding molt in this species.Weight changes were related to environmental factors (day length, snow cover, temperature, etc.) over the winter months and to social conditions encountered in captivity. No correlation with current air temperatures was found but day length and snow cover correlated well with weight; however, the relationship was variously modulated by the social surroundings. Poorly identified social factors seemed to play a more important rôle than that played by any single environmental factor selected. Paired birds kept outdoors are considered to represent fairly well the pattern for wild buntings. There was no evidence that social thermoregulation (by huddling) was necessary for this species under Quebec City's winter climate. Article in Journal/Newspaper Plectrophenax nivalis Canadian Science Publishing (via Crossref) Canadian Journal of Zoology 54 7 1051 1063 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Canadian Science Publishing (via Crossref) |
op_collection_id |
crcansciencepubl |
language |
English |
topic |
Animal Science and Zoology Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics |
spellingShingle |
Animal Science and Zoology Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics Vincent, J. Bédard, J. Fat reserves in snow buntings |
topic_facet |
Animal Science and Zoology Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics |
description |
Snow buntings (Plectrophenax nivalis) were kept in outdoor and indoor aviaries in Quebec City for 2 years (1970–1972) to study some aspects of their behaviour in winter. Birds kept in isolation or in groups of 2, 4, or 12 individuals were weighed daily at sunset between November and April and once a week during the rest of the year. A very great spring premigratory fattening occurs in early March, relating to the precocity of the spring migration and to the absence of prebreeding molt in this species.Weight changes were related to environmental factors (day length, snow cover, temperature, etc.) over the winter months and to social conditions encountered in captivity. No correlation with current air temperatures was found but day length and snow cover correlated well with weight; however, the relationship was variously modulated by the social surroundings. Poorly identified social factors seemed to play a more important rôle than that played by any single environmental factor selected. Paired birds kept outdoors are considered to represent fairly well the pattern for wild buntings. There was no evidence that social thermoregulation (by huddling) was necessary for this species under Quebec City's winter climate. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Vincent, J. Bédard, J. |
author_facet |
Vincent, J. Bédard, J. |
author_sort |
Vincent, J. |
title |
Fat reserves in snow buntings |
title_short |
Fat reserves in snow buntings |
title_full |
Fat reserves in snow buntings |
title_fullStr |
Fat reserves in snow buntings |
title_full_unstemmed |
Fat reserves in snow buntings |
title_sort |
fat reserves in snow buntings |
publisher |
Canadian Science Publishing |
publishDate |
1976 |
url |
http://dx.doi.org/10.1139/z76-119 http://www.nrcresearchpress.com/doi/pdf/10.1139/z76-119 |
genre |
Plectrophenax nivalis |
genre_facet |
Plectrophenax nivalis |
op_source |
Canadian Journal of Zoology volume 54, issue 7, page 1051-1063 ISSN 0008-4301 1480-3283 |
op_rights |
http://www.nrcresearchpress.com/page/about/CorporateTextAndDataMining |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1139/z76-119 |
container_title |
Canadian Journal of Zoology |
container_volume |
54 |
container_issue |
7 |
container_start_page |
1051 |
op_container_end_page |
1063 |
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1785573370453032960 |