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When three per cent may not be three per cent; device-equipped seabirds experience variable flight constraints

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Abstract

Current guidelines for instrumenting birds state that external devices should not exceed 3–5% of the birds’ body mass; however, the energetic consequences of carrying any given device mass are likely to vary according to the morphology and ecology of the species concerned. We used a freeware program to estimate the mechanical power requirements of flight at the minimum power speed for 80 species of flying seabird from 8 major groups with payloads of increasing mass. Devices representing 3% of the bird’s body mass resulted in an increase in energy expenditure for flight ranging from 4.67 to 5.71% without accounting for the increase in body drag coefficient associated with external devices. This effect differed within and between seabird lineages with members of the Alcidae and Phalacrocoracidae experiencing the highest energetic costs of any increase in device mass. We propose that device effects on seabirds could be further reduced through consideration of species-specific effects of added payload and drag.

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Acknowledgments

We are grateful to Colin Pennycuick for his help at various stages from the use of his Flight program to his constructive comments on the manuscript. We also thank Adrian Gleiss for helpful discussions. Finally, this study would have not been carried out without financial support from the California Department of Fish and Game’s Oil Spill Response Trust Fund (through the Oiled Wildlife Care Network at the Wildlife Health Center, School of Veterinary Medicine, University of California, Davis) and the Royal Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (RSPCA, Wilberforce Way, Southwater, Horsham, West Sussex, RH13 9RS, United Kingdom).

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  1. Swansea Moving Animal Research Team, Biosciences, College of Science, Swansea University, Singleton Park, SA2 8PP, Wales, UK

    Sylvie P. Vandenabeele, Emily L. Shepard & Rory P. Wilson

  2. Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, Wildlife Department, Wilberforce Way, Southwater, Horsham, West Sussex, RH13 9RS, UK

    Adam Grogan

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  1. Sylvie P. Vandenabeele
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Correspondence to Sylvie P. Vandenabeele.

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Communicated by M. E. Hauber.

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Vandenabeele, S.P., Shepard, E.L., Grogan, A. et al. When three per cent may not be three per cent; device-equipped seabirds experience variable flight constraints. Mar Biol 159, 1–14 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00227-011-1784-6

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