To fly or not to fly: high flight costs in a large sea duck do not imply an expensive lifestyle
A perennial question in ornithology is whether flight has evolved mostly to facilitate access to food or as an anti-predator strategy. However, flight is an expensive mode of locomotion and species using flight regularly are associated with an expensive lifestyle. Using heart rate (HR) data loggers...
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crroyalsociety:10.1098/rspb.2008.0422 2024-06-02T08:14:27+00:00 To fly or not to fly: high flight costs in a large sea duck do not imply an expensive lifestyle Pelletier, David Guillemette, Magella Grandbois, Jean-Marc Butler, Patrick J 2008 http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2008.0422 https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/pdf/10.1098/rspb.2008.0422 https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/full-xml/10.1098/rspb.2008.0422 en eng The Royal Society https://royalsociety.org/journals/ethics-policies/data-sharing-mining/ Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences volume 275, issue 1647, page 2117-2124 ISSN 0962-8452 1471-2954 journal-article 2008 crroyalsociety https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2008.0422 2024-05-07T14:16:26Z A perennial question in ornithology is whether flight has evolved mostly to facilitate access to food or as an anti-predator strategy. However, flight is an expensive mode of locomotion and species using flight regularly are associated with an expensive lifestyle. Using heart rate (HR) data loggers implanted in 13 female common eiders ( Somateria mollissima ), our objective was to test the hypothesis that a high level of flight activity increases their energy budget. We used the long-term recording (seven months) of HR as an index of energy expenditure and the HR flight signature to compile all flight events. Our results indicate that the eider is one of the thriftiest volant birds with only 10 minutes of flight time per day. Consequently, we were not able to detect any effect of flight activity on their energy budget despite very high flight costs (123–149 W), suggesting that flight was controlled by energy budget limitations. However, the low flight activity of that species may also be related to their prey landscape requiring few or no large-scale movements. Nevertheless, we suggest that the (fitness) benefits of keeping flight ability in this species exceed the costs by allowing a higher survival in relation to predation and environmental harshness. Article in Journal/Newspaper Somateria mollissima The Royal Society Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences 275 1647 2117 2124 |
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The Royal Society |
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crroyalsociety |
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English |
description |
A perennial question in ornithology is whether flight has evolved mostly to facilitate access to food or as an anti-predator strategy. However, flight is an expensive mode of locomotion and species using flight regularly are associated with an expensive lifestyle. Using heart rate (HR) data loggers implanted in 13 female common eiders ( Somateria mollissima ), our objective was to test the hypothesis that a high level of flight activity increases their energy budget. We used the long-term recording (seven months) of HR as an index of energy expenditure and the HR flight signature to compile all flight events. Our results indicate that the eider is one of the thriftiest volant birds with only 10 minutes of flight time per day. Consequently, we were not able to detect any effect of flight activity on their energy budget despite very high flight costs (123–149 W), suggesting that flight was controlled by energy budget limitations. However, the low flight activity of that species may also be related to their prey landscape requiring few or no large-scale movements. Nevertheless, we suggest that the (fitness) benefits of keeping flight ability in this species exceed the costs by allowing a higher survival in relation to predation and environmental harshness. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Pelletier, David Guillemette, Magella Grandbois, Jean-Marc Butler, Patrick J |
spellingShingle |
Pelletier, David Guillemette, Magella Grandbois, Jean-Marc Butler, Patrick J To fly or not to fly: high flight costs in a large sea duck do not imply an expensive lifestyle |
author_facet |
Pelletier, David Guillemette, Magella Grandbois, Jean-Marc Butler, Patrick J |
author_sort |
Pelletier, David |
title |
To fly or not to fly: high flight costs in a large sea duck do not imply an expensive lifestyle |
title_short |
To fly or not to fly: high flight costs in a large sea duck do not imply an expensive lifestyle |
title_full |
To fly or not to fly: high flight costs in a large sea duck do not imply an expensive lifestyle |
title_fullStr |
To fly or not to fly: high flight costs in a large sea duck do not imply an expensive lifestyle |
title_full_unstemmed |
To fly or not to fly: high flight costs in a large sea duck do not imply an expensive lifestyle |
title_sort |
to fly or not to fly: high flight costs in a large sea duck do not imply an expensive lifestyle |
publisher |
The Royal Society |
publishDate |
2008 |
url |
http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2008.0422 https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/pdf/10.1098/rspb.2008.0422 https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/full-xml/10.1098/rspb.2008.0422 |
genre |
Somateria mollissima |
genre_facet |
Somateria mollissima |
op_source |
Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences volume 275, issue 1647, page 2117-2124 ISSN 0962-8452 1471-2954 |
op_rights |
https://royalsociety.org/journals/ethics-policies/data-sharing-mining/ |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2008.0422 |
container_title |
Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences |
container_volume |
275 |
container_issue |
1647 |
container_start_page |
2117 |
op_container_end_page |
2124 |
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1800738325933326336 |