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Physiological energetics of cock-crow

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Abstract

ALTHOUGH much is known about bird song in the behavioural context there is no exact information concerning the efficiency of the communication system itself in terms of energy usage. Little attention has been paid to study of energy relationships in animal communications. The domestic fowl (Gallus domesticus) is a convenient subject on which to make physiological measurements of the energy involved in sound production, because of its size and its readiness to make calls in the laboratory, and because of the sheer volume of sound it produces. I have made such measurements and report them here.

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BRACKENBURY, J. Physiological energetics of cock-crow. Nature 270, 433–435 (1977). https://doi.org/10.1038/270433a0

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/270433a0

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