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Metabolic costs of avian flight in relation to flight velocity: a study in Rose Coloured Starlings (Sturnus roseus, Linnaeus)

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Abstract

The metabolic costs of flight at a natural range of speeds were investigated in Rose Coloured Starlings (Sturnus roseus, Linnaeus) using doubly labelled water. Eight birds flew repeatedly and unrestrained for bouts of 6 h at speeds from 9 to 14 m s−1 in a low-turbulence wind tunnel, corresponding to travel distances between 200 and 300 km, respectively. This represents the widest speed range where we could obtain voluntarily sustained flights. From a subset of these flights, data on the wing beat frequency (WBF) and intermittent flight behaviour were obtained. Over the range of speeds that were tested, flight costs did not change with velocity and were on an average 8.17±0.64 W or 114 W kg−1. Body mass was the only parameter with a significant (positive) effect on flight costs, which can be described as EEf=0.741 M 0.554. WBF changed slightly with speed, but correlated better with body mass. Birds showed both types of intermittent flight, undulating and bounding, but their frequencies did not systematically change with flight speed.

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Abbreviations

EEf :

Flight energy expenditure (W)

DLW:

Doubly labelled water

M :

Body mass (g)

V mr :

Maximum range speed (m s−1)

V mp :

Minimum power speed (m s−1)

η:

Flight muscle efficiency

IRMS:

Isotope ratio mass spectrometer

WP:

Size of total body water pool (mol)

k d :

Fractional turnover rate for 2H (day−1)

k o :

Fractional turnover rate for 18O (day−1)

C iH :

Average 2H concentration of blood sample 1 (atom percent)

C iO :

Average 18O concentration of blood sample 1 (atom percent)

C bH :

Average background concentration of sample 0 for 2H (atom percent)

C bO :

Average background concentration of sample 0 for 18O (atom percent)

C fH :

Average 2H concentration of sample 2 (atom percent)

C fO :

Average 18O concentration of sample 2 (atom percent)

t :

Time (s)

rCO2 :

Rate of CO2 production (l day−1)

rG:

Assumed fraction of water flux lost through evaporative pathways

WBF:

Wing beat frequency (Hz)

B U :

Number of gliding bouts in undulating flight (bouts min−1)

D U :

Mean duration per gliding bout in undulating flight (s)

G U :

Total duration of gliding in undulating flight per sample (s)

B B :

Number of gliding bouts in bounding flight (bouts min−1)

D B :

Mean duration per gliding bout in bounding flight (s)

G B :

Total duration of gliding in bounding flight per sample (s)

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Acknowledgements

We thank Andrea Wittenzellner, Brigitte Biebach, and Ninon Ballerstädt for their technical assistance during bird training and the experiments. We are especially indebted to Ninon Ballerstädt for her help in analysing the video recordings. Berthe Verstappen determined the isotope enrichments. David Rummel from the Department of Statistics of the Ludwig-Maximilian-University Munich kindly helped with the mixed models statistics. We are grateful to Martha Merrow for proofreading this manuscript and improving our writing. Serge Daan and John Videler helped to improve earlier versions of this manuscript. We are greatly indebted to the late Prof. Dr. E. Gwinner whose enthusiasm led to the realization of the wind tunnel and has inspired us throughout the project. All experiments were in accordance with the German legislation on the protection of animals.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Max Planck Institute for Ornithology, Von-der-Tann-Str. 7, 82346, Andechs, Germany

    Sophia Engel & Herbert Biebach

  2. Department of Behavioural Biology, University of Groningen, Haren, The Netherlands

    Sophia Engel & G. Henk Visser

  3. Centre for Isotope Research, University of Groningen, Groningen, The Netherlands

    G. Henk Visser

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  1. Sophia Engel
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  2. Herbert Biebach
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  3. G. Henk Visser
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Correspondence to Sophia Engel.

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Communicated by G. Heldmaier

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Engel, S., Biebach, H. & Visser, G.H. Metabolic costs of avian flight in relation to flight velocity: a study in Rose Coloured Starlings (Sturnus roseus, Linnaeus). J Comp Physiol B 176, 415–427 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00360-006-0063-1

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