Onshore energetics in penguins: Theory, estimation and ecological implications.

• Published in: Comparative Biochemistry and Physiology Part A: Molecular & Integrative Physiology
• Main Authors: Halsey, L.G., White, C.R., Fahlman, A., Handrich, Y., Butler, P.J.
• Other Authors: Centre for ornithology, School of Biosciences-University of Birmingham Birmingham, Department of zoology, University of British Columbia (UBC), Département Ecologie, Physiologie et Ethologie (DEPE-IPHC), Institut Pluridisciplinaire Hubert Curien (IPHC), Université Louis Pasteur - Strasbourg I-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université Louis Pasteur - Strasbourg I-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: HAL CCSD 2007
• Subjects: aptenodytes patagonicus; engetics; king penguin; locomotion; oxygen consumption; walking; [SDV.BID.EVO]Life Sciences [q-bio]/Biodiversity/Populations and Evolution [q-bio.PE]; King Penguins
• Online Access: https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00162139; https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cbpa.2007.03.009

International audience Penguins are known to have high pedestrian locomotory costs in comparison to other cursorial birds, but the ecological consequences of this difference have received limited attention. Here we present a method for the accurate estimation of onshore energetics based on measurements of body mass, simple morphometrics and distance moved. The method is shown to be similarly accurate to other field-based estimates of energy expenditure, but has the advantage of logistical simplicity. King penguins spend 30-50% of their time ashore and may walk distances of several kilometres to and from their breeding colonies. However, in such cases the total energetic cost of pedestrian locomotion is estimated to be only 1.0% of the energy expended whilst ashore. Thus, despite a high instantaneous cost, pedestrian locomotion is a small and possibly negligible component of total energy turnover in king penguins.