Do seaducks minimise the flightless period? Inter- and intra-specific comparisons of remigial moult.
Remigial moult is one of the crucial events in the annual life cycle of waterfowl as it is energetically costly, lasts several weeks, and is a period of high vulnerability due to flightlessness. In waterfowl, remigial moult can be considered as an energy-predation trade-off, meaning that heavier ind...
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ftdoajarticles:oai:doaj.org/article:d11181908d944b418bc0cb626884ac40 2023-05-15T17:10:56+02:00 Do seaducks minimise the flightless period? Inter- and intra-specific comparisons of remigial moult. Anouck Viain Jean-Pierre L Savard Scott Gilliland Matthew C Perry Magella Guillemette 2014-01-01T00:00:00Z https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0107929 https://doaj.org/article/d11181908d944b418bc0cb626884ac40 EN eng Public Library of Science (PLoS) http://europepmc.org/articles/PMC4176014?pdf=render https://doaj.org/toc/1932-6203 1932-6203 doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0107929 https://doaj.org/article/d11181908d944b418bc0cb626884ac40 PLoS ONE, Vol 9, Iss 9, p e107929 (2014) Medicine R Science Q article 2014 ftdoajarticles https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0107929 2022-12-31T02:14:19Z Remigial moult is one of the crucial events in the annual life cycle of waterfowl as it is energetically costly, lasts several weeks, and is a period of high vulnerability due to flightlessness. In waterfowl, remigial moult can be considered as an energy-predation trade-off, meaning that heavier individuals would minimise the flightless period by increasing feather growth rate and energy expenditure. Alternatively, they could reduce body mass at the end of this period, thereby reducing wing-loading to increase flight capability. We studied timing of remigial moult, primary growth rates, flightlessness duration, and the pattern of body mass variation in 5 species of captive seaducks (Melanitta fusca, M. perspicillata, Clangula hyemalis, Histrionicus histrionicus, and Somateria mollissima) ranging in size from 0.5 to 2.0 kg. Their feather growth rates weakly increased with body mass (M0.059) and no correlation was found at the intra-specific level. Consequently, heavier seaduck species and especially heavier individuals had a longer flightless period. Although birds had access to food ad libidum, body mass first increased then decreased, the latter coinciding with maximum feather growth rate. Level of body mass when birds regained flight ability was similar to level observed at the beginning of remigial moult, suggesting they were not using a strategic reduction of body mass to reduce the flightlessness duration. We suggest that the moulting strategy of seaducks may be the result of a compromise between using an intense moult strategy (simultaneous moult) and a low feather growth rate without prejudice to feather quality. Despite the controlled captive status of the studied seaducks, all five species as well as both sexes within each species showed timing of moult reflecting that of wild birds, suggesting there is a genetic component acting to shape moult timing within wild birds. Article in Journal/Newspaper Melanitta fusca Somateria mollissima Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles PLoS ONE 9 9 e107929 |
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English |
topic |
Medicine R Science Q |
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Medicine R Science Q Anouck Viain Jean-Pierre L Savard Scott Gilliland Matthew C Perry Magella Guillemette Do seaducks minimise the flightless period? Inter- and intra-specific comparisons of remigial moult. |
topic_facet |
Medicine R Science Q |
description |
Remigial moult is one of the crucial events in the annual life cycle of waterfowl as it is energetically costly, lasts several weeks, and is a period of high vulnerability due to flightlessness. In waterfowl, remigial moult can be considered as an energy-predation trade-off, meaning that heavier individuals would minimise the flightless period by increasing feather growth rate and energy expenditure. Alternatively, they could reduce body mass at the end of this period, thereby reducing wing-loading to increase flight capability. We studied timing of remigial moult, primary growth rates, flightlessness duration, and the pattern of body mass variation in 5 species of captive seaducks (Melanitta fusca, M. perspicillata, Clangula hyemalis, Histrionicus histrionicus, and Somateria mollissima) ranging in size from 0.5 to 2.0 kg. Their feather growth rates weakly increased with body mass (M0.059) and no correlation was found at the intra-specific level. Consequently, heavier seaduck species and especially heavier individuals had a longer flightless period. Although birds had access to food ad libidum, body mass first increased then decreased, the latter coinciding with maximum feather growth rate. Level of body mass when birds regained flight ability was similar to level observed at the beginning of remigial moult, suggesting they were not using a strategic reduction of body mass to reduce the flightlessness duration. We suggest that the moulting strategy of seaducks may be the result of a compromise between using an intense moult strategy (simultaneous moult) and a low feather growth rate without prejudice to feather quality. Despite the controlled captive status of the studied seaducks, all five species as well as both sexes within each species showed timing of moult reflecting that of wild birds, suggesting there is a genetic component acting to shape moult timing within wild birds. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Anouck Viain Jean-Pierre L Savard Scott Gilliland Matthew C Perry Magella Guillemette |
author_facet |
Anouck Viain Jean-Pierre L Savard Scott Gilliland Matthew C Perry Magella Guillemette |
author_sort |
Anouck Viain |
title |
Do seaducks minimise the flightless period? Inter- and intra-specific comparisons of remigial moult. |
title_short |
Do seaducks minimise the flightless period? Inter- and intra-specific comparisons of remigial moult. |
title_full |
Do seaducks minimise the flightless period? Inter- and intra-specific comparisons of remigial moult. |
title_fullStr |
Do seaducks minimise the flightless period? Inter- and intra-specific comparisons of remigial moult. |
title_full_unstemmed |
Do seaducks minimise the flightless period? Inter- and intra-specific comparisons of remigial moult. |
title_sort |
do seaducks minimise the flightless period? inter- and intra-specific comparisons of remigial moult. |
publisher |
Public Library of Science (PLoS) |
publishDate |
2014 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0107929 https://doaj.org/article/d11181908d944b418bc0cb626884ac40 |
genre |
Melanitta fusca Somateria mollissima |
genre_facet |
Melanitta fusca Somateria mollissima |
op_source |
PLoS ONE, Vol 9, Iss 9, p e107929 (2014) |
op_relation |
http://europepmc.org/articles/PMC4176014?pdf=render https://doaj.org/toc/1932-6203 1932-6203 doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0107929 https://doaj.org/article/d11181908d944b418bc0cb626884ac40 |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0107929 |
container_title |
PLoS ONE |
container_volume |
9 |
container_issue |
9 |
container_start_page |
e107929 |
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