Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/1959.11/3416
Title: Body temperature and activity patterns of free-living laughing Kookaburras: The largest kingfisher is heterothermic
Contributor(s): Cooper, Christine Eliza (author); Koertner, Gerhard  (author)orcid ; Brigham, R Mark (author); Geiser, Fritz  (author)orcid 
Publication Date: 2008
DOI: 10.1525/cond.2008.110.1.110
Handle Link: https://hdl.handle.net/1959.11/3416
Abstract: We show that free-ranging Laughing Kookaburras ('Dacelo novaeguineae'), the largest kingfishers, are heterothermic. Their minimum recorded body temperature (Tb) was 28.6°C, and the maximum daily Tb range was 9.1°C, which makes kookaburras only the second coraciiform species and the only member of the Alcedinidae known to be heterothermic. The amplitude of nocturnal body temperature variation for wild, free-living kookaburras during winter was substantially greater than the mean of 2.6°C measured previously for captive kookaburras. Calculated metabolic savings from nocturnal heterothermia were up to 5.6 ± 0.9 kJ per night. There was little effect of ambient temperature on any of the calculated Tb-dependent variables for the kookaburras, although ambient temperature did influence the time that activity commenced for these diurnal birds. Kookaburras used endogenous metabolic heat production to rewarm from low Tb, rather than relying on passive rewarming. Rewarming rates (0.05±0.01°C min⁻¹) were consistent with those of other avian species. Captivity can have major effects on thermoregulation for birds, and therefore the importance of field studies of wild, free-living individuals is paramount for understanding the biology of avian temperature regulation.
Publication Type: Journal Article
Source of Publication: The Condor, 110(1), p. 110-115
Publisher: University of California Press
Place of Publication: United States of America
ISSN: 1938-5129
0010-5422
Fields of Research (FoR) 2008: 060803 Animal Developmental and Reproductive Biology
Socio-Economic Objective (SEO) 2008: 970106 Expanding Knowledge in the Biological Sciences
Peer Reviewed: Yes
HERDC Category Description: C1 Refereed Article in a Scholarly Journal
Appears in Collections:Journal Article

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