Hummingbirds use torpor in varying ways to survive cold temps
By Talia Ogliore March 14, 2023
Hummingbirds have the fastest metabolism of any animal. The tropical hummingbirds that live in the Andes Mountains in South America must expend considerable energy to maintain their high body temperatures in cold environments.
One tool that they use to survive cold nights is called torpor, a hibernation-like state that allows them to ramp down energy consumption to well below what they normally use during the day.
But it’s not just a matter of flipping a switch that turns metabolism on or off. Instead, hummingbirds use torpor in varying ways, depending on their physical condition and what is happening in their environment, according to new research from Washington University in St. Louis and Colombian biologists.
Colombia is home to 168 species of hummingbirds, more than any other country in the world. For this study, researchers caught 249 hummingbirds representing 29 different species living in the mid- to high-altitude mountains. The scientists collected measurements related to torpor in the wild (as opposed to studying the birds under laboratory conditions).
“Torpor is somewhere between a power nap and hibernation,” said Justin Baldwin, a PhD candidate in biology in Arts & Sciences at Washington University, first author of the new study published March 15 in Proceedings of the Royal Society B.
More:
https://source.wustl.edu/2023/03/hummingbirds-use-torpor-in-varying-ways-to-survive-cold-temps/
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