Figure 7 - uploaded by Kevin R Burgio
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The thermal performance (temperature below the flat-skin -temperature at the surface of the flat-skin) values of feather coats a) in summer versus winter and b) according to feather wear. Feather wear does not predict thermal performance.
Source publication
Feathers are critical to how birds thermoregulate, and thus their total energy balance. The feather coat insulates birds by trapping air next to the skin and acting as a physical barrier to heat loss. Despite previous work studying thermal balance in birds, relatively few studies have focused on the thermal contribution of the feather coat alone; m...
Contexts in source publication
Context 1
... performance to date instead of season (Fig. 6b). Thus, date (seasonality) has no relationship with the thermal performance of flat-skins. Since in our study date is a proxy for expected feather condition, we examined the thermal performance against the ratio of broken barbs of all kind (pennaceous and plumulaceous) to the total number of barbs (Fig. 7). Feather wear did not explain the variation in thermal performance (R 2 = .0391), and the amount of variation in thermal performance is consistent among different amounts of feather wear. Thus, the amount of feather wear is not related to thermal performance. ...
Context 2
... performance to date instead of season (Fig. 6b). Thus, date (seasonality) has no relationship with the thermal performance of flat-skins. Since in our study date is a proxy for expected feather condition, we examined the thermal performance against the ratio of broken barbs of all kind (pennaceous and plumulaceous) to the total number of barbs (Fig. 7). Feather wear did not explain the variation in thermal performance (R 2 = .0391), and the amount of variation in thermal performance is consistent among different amounts of feather wear. Thus, the amount of feather wear is not related to thermal performance. ...
