Oxygen consumption during hover-feeding in free-ranging Anna hummingbirds.
Rates of oxygen consumption during hover-feeding of wild, unrestrained, adult male Anna hummingbirds (Calypte anna) were measured with an artificial outdoor feeder converted into a respirometer mask. A computer sampled changes in O2 concentration in air drawn through the mask, automatically detecting the presence of a hummingbird from a drop in the O2 concentration, and photoelectrically timing the duration over which the feeder functioned as a mask. Birds coming to the feeder were weighed on a trapeze perch suspended from a force transducer. Feeding bouts consisted of sallies which carried the head in and out of the feeding mask about once a second. The volume of O2 consumed per feeding sally was linearly related to the length of the sally. The energy cost of hover-feeding in five hummingbirds, mean mass 4.6 g, was 41.5 +/- 6.3 ml O2 g-1 h-1.
D000818:Animals; D000835:Animals, Wild; D001717:Birds / Q000378:metabolism*; D004734:Energy Metabolism; D005247:Feeding Behavior; D008297:Male; D010101:Oxygen Consumption