Avian thermoregulation in the heat: phylogenetic variation among avian orders in evaporative cooling capacity and heat tolerance

Little is known about the phylogenetic variation of avian evaporative cooling efficiency and heat tolerance in hot environments. We quantified thermoregulatory responses to high air temperature ( T a ) in ~100-g representatives of three orders: African cuckoo ( Cuculus gularis , Cuculiformes), lilac-breasted roller ( Coracias caudatus , Coraciiformes), and Burchell’s starling ( Lamprotornis australis , Passeriformes). All three species initiated respiratory mechanisms to increase evaporative heat dissipation when body temperature ( T b ) approached 41.5°C in response to increasing T a , with gular flutter observed in cuckoos and panting in rollers and starlings. Resting metabolic rate (RMR) and evaporative water loss (EWL) increased by quantitatively similar magnitudes in all three species, although maximum rates of EWL were proportionately lower in starlings. Evaporative cooling efficiency [defined as the ratio of evaporative heat loss (EHL) to metabolic heat production (MHP)] generally remained below 2.0 in cuckoos and starlings, but reached a maximum of ~3.5 in rollers. The high value for rollers reveals a very efficient evaporative cooling mechanism, and is similar to EHL/MHP maxima for similarly sized columbids which very effectively dissipate heat via cutaneous evaporation. This unexpected phylogenetic variation among the orders tested in the physiological mechanisms of heat dissipation is an important step toward determining the evolution of heat tolerance traits in desert birds. Summary statement We show that avian evaporative cooling efficiency and heat tolerance display substantial taxonomic variation that are, unexpectedly, not systematically related to the use of panting versus gular flutter processes.