Life Sciences Commons^™

Environment, Behavior And Physiology: Do Birds Use Barometric Pressure To Predict Storms?, Creagh W. Breuner, Rachel Seabury Sprague, Stephen Harold Patterson, H. Arthur Woods

Biological Sciences Faculty Publications

Severe storms can pose a grave challenge to the temperature and energy homeostasis of small endothermic vertebrates. Storms are accompanied by lower temperatures and wind, increasing metabolic expenditure, and can inhibit foraging, thereby limiting energy intake. To avoid these potential problems, most endotherms have mechanisms for offsetting the energetic risks posed by storms. One possibility is to use cues to predict oncoming storms and to alter physiology and behavior in ways that make survival more likely. Barometric pressure declines predictably before inclement weather, and several lines of evidence indicate that animals alter behavior based on changes in ambient pressure. Here …