| Publication Type: | Journal Article |
| Year of Publication: | 1994 |
| Authors: | Berger, B, Föger, M, Büchele, S, Dallinger, R |
| Journal: | Journal of Ornithology |
| Volume: | 135 |
| Issue: | 1 |
| Date Published: | 1994 |
| ISBN Number: | 2193-7192 |
| Keywords: | Dendrocopos, Dendrocopos major, Picidae, Picoides major |
| Abstract: | Oxygen consumption of two eggs of the Great Spotted Woodpecker was measured with a two-channel oxygen analyzer using an open flow system. The embryogeny of oxygen consumption nearly follows an exponential equation with the exception of a 7-hour plateau phase on day 9 of incubation. During this period the embryos consume ca. 4 ml O 2 × min -1 . For a given fresh egg mass the eggs of woodpeckers have unusually short incubation periods (10 days measured vs. 17 days expected). Thus a comparison of the embryonic metabolism with that of species having long incubation periods but similar egg sizes shows the influence of a fast embryonic development on avian enbryonic energetics. The total embryonic metabolism of the Great Spotted Woodpecker amounts to 0.9 kJx g -1 fresh egg mass which is half as much as the value for most other birds (ca. 2 kJ × g -1 ). |
| URL: | http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/BF01640279 |
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