What is it about?
For me, this paper was mostly about catching Cape Rockjumpers for Krista Oswald's physiological study. We were worried this species dealing with climate change. Turns out they deal with higher temperatures by increasing evaporative water loss (through panting), which is a strategy used by birds in hot environments with wet summers. The catch: these birds experience dry summers.
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Why is it important?
There is relatively little published on seasonal changes in bird physiology. In such, this was quite a benchmark study.
Perspectives
Cape Rockjumpers are beautiful birds. I am so lucky to have these living in my 'back yard' at Blue Hill Nature Reserve, Western Cape. We have a lot of these birds colour ringed now.... so it will be great to see how they do in the coming years. In the meantime: thank you Cape Rockjumpers for keeping me fit, and well done to Krista and Ben for putting this all together
Dr Alan Tristram Kenneth Lee
University of Cape Town
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: Seasonal physiological responses to heat in an alpine range-restricted bird: the Cape Rockjumper, January 2018, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press,
DOI: 10.1101/248070.
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