Inexplicable inefficiency of avian molt? Insights from an opportunistically breeding arid-zone species, Lichenostomus penicillatus.

ABSTRACT: The majority of bird species studied to date have molt schedules that are not concurrent with other energy demanding life history stages, an outcome assumed to arise from energetic trade-offs. Empirical studies reveal that molt is one of the most energetically demanding and perplexingly inefficient growth processes measured. Furthermore, small birds, which have the highest mass-specific basal metabolic rates (BMR(m)), have the highest costs of molt per gram of feathers produced. However, many small passerines, including white-plumed honeyeaters (WPHE; Lichenostomus penicillatus), breed in response to resource availability at any time of year, and do so without interrupting their annual molt. We examined the energetic cost of molt in WPHE by quantifying weekly changes in minimum resting met

SUBMITTER: Hoye BJ 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3032729 | biostudies-literature | 2011 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature