JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact support@jstor.org.. Abstract. We measured body temperatures in three species of Brazilian hummingbirds, the Versicolored Emerald (Amazilia versicolor; body mass 4.1 g), the Black Jacobin (Melanotrochilus fuscus; body mass 7.7 g) and the Swallow-tailed Hummingbird (Eupetomena macroura; body mass 8.6 g), during overnight exposure to natural conditions of photoperiod and ambient temperatures. All three species entered torpor. In both A. versicolor and E. macroura, individuals entered torpor even if they had access to feeders up to the time of sunset. In contrast, M. fuscus was less prone to enter torpor and did so mainly if it had been fasting for more than two hours before sunset. Furthermore, M. fuscus often spent the whole night in torpor, whereas the two other species entered torpor for a variable, often short, period of the night. We observed more than one torpor bout during a single night in all three species. We suggest that multiple nocturnal torpors result from interruption of the normal torpor pattern by some (unknown) external stimuli. Any interrupted torpor was always followed by a new entry into torpor, supporting the view that there is a body mass threshold below which the hummingbirds must enter torpor. Our data also indicate that these hummingbird species might use torpor even if they are not energetically stressed.
University of California Press and
Pulmonary ventilation and temperature of expired air and of the respiratory passages has been measured by telemetry during flight in the black duck (Anas rubripes) and the respiratory water and heat loss has been calculated.During flight, temperature of expired air was higher than at rest and decreased with decreasing ambient temperatures. Accordingly, respiratory water loss as well as evaporative heat loss decreased at low ambient temperatures, whereas heat loss by warming of the inspired air increased. The data indicated respiratory water loss exceeded metabolic water production except at very low ambient temperatures. In the range between −16 °C to +19 °C, the total respiratory heat loss was fairly constant and amounted to 19% of the heat production. Evidence for the independence of total heat loss and production from changes in ambient temperature during flight is discussed.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.