Air-breathing animals diving to forage can optimize time underwater by diving with just enough oxygen for the projected performance underwater. By so doing they surface with minimal body oxygen levels, which leads to maximal ...

The diving patterns of the Antarctic Shag ( Phalacrocorax bransfieldensis ) were studied by direct observation on individuals foraging at Harmony Cove, Nelson Island, South Shetland Islands, during the 1995/96 and 1996/97 ...

In air-breathing animals, the time and energy costs of each dive are primarily determined by depth-related upthrust, swim speed and temperature. While studies have previously investigated how animals should optimise their ...

Seabirds have to deal with environmental variability and are predicted to modulate foraging behavior to maximize fitness, with particularly strong selection pressure for optimal behavior during chick provisioning when ...

Thermoregulation could represent a significant fraction of the total energy budget of endotherms under unfavourable environmental conditions. This cost affects several traits of the ecology of an organism such as its ...

Cormorants are considered to be remarkably efficient divers and hunters. In part, this is due to their wettable plumage with little associated air, which allows them to dive with fewer energetic costs associated with ...

Leg rings are frequently used to mark aquatic birds in order to identify individuals, and study population dynamics and migration patterns, with the proviso being that the rings should not affect the birds. The effects of ...

Many studies on avian microanatomy have established a relationship between high bone compactness (i.e., higher degree of osteosclerosis) and diving behavior. Greatest degrees of compactness have been observed in the femora ...