ArticlePloS one2015
Energy Expenditure and Metabolic Changes of Free-Flying Migrating Northern Bald Ibis.
Article in PloS one, 2015. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 13 papers.
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Who cites it
13 citing papers in PubMed, 62 citations in OpenAlex.
- Migration shapes senescence in a long-lived bird.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · 2025Article
- Utilizing NMR fecal metabolomics as a novel technique for detecting the physiological effects of food shortages in waterfowl.Frontiers in physiology · 2023Article
- Oxidative physiology of two small and highly migratory Arctic seabirds: Arctic terns (Conservation physiology · 2023Article
- Tracing the Fate of the Northern Bald Ibis over Five Millennia: An Interdisciplinary Approach to the Extinction and Recovery of an Iconic Bird Species.Animals : an open access journal from MDPI · 2022Article
- Article
- Not just fuel: energy stores are correlated with immune function and oxidative damage in a long-distance migrant.Current zoology · 2020Article
- Migratory flight imposes oxidative stress in bats.Current zoology · 2019Article
- Blood biochemistry and haematology of migrating loggerhead turtles (Conservation physiology · 2019Article
- A hidden cost of migration? Innate immune function versus antioxidant defense.Ecology and evolution · 2018Article
- Transcriptional Signatures in Liver Reveal Metabolic Adaptations to Seasons in Migratory Blackheaded Buntings.Frontiers in physiology · 2018Article
- Article
- Energy metabolism during endurance flight and the post-flight recovery phase.Journal of comparative physiology. A, Neuroethology, sensory, neural, and behavioral physiology · 2017Review
- How do energy stores and changes in these affect departure decisions by migratory birds? A critical view on stopover ecology studies and some future perspectives.Journal of comparative physiology. A, Neuroethology, sensory, neural, and behavioral physiology · 2017Review
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
9 authors at 5 institutions in 3 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Many migrating birds undertake extraordinary long flights. How birds are able to perform such endurance flights of over 100-hour durations is still poorly understood. We examined energy expenditure and physiological changes in Northern Bald Ibis Geronticus eremite during natural flights using birds trained to follow an ultra-light aircraft. Because these birds were tame, with foster parents, we were able to bleed them immediately prior to and after each flight. Flight duration was experimentally designed ranging between one and almost four hours continuous flights. Energy expenditure during flight was estimated using doubly-labelled-water while physiological properties were assessed through blood chemistry including plasma metabolites, enzymes, electrolytes, blood gases, and reactive oxygen compounds. Instantaneous energy expenditure decreased with flight duration, and the birds appeared to balance aerobic and anaerobic metabolism, using fat, carbohydrate and protein as fuel. This made flight both economic and tolerable. The observed effects resemble classical exercise adaptations that can limit duration of exercise while reducing energetic output. There were also in-flight benefits that enable power output variation from cruising to manoeuvring. These adaptations share characteristics with physiological processes that have facilitated other athletic feats in nature and might enable the extraordinary long flights of migratory birds as well.
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