Metabolic cost of incubation in the Laysan albatross and Bonin petrel

Abstract

1. 1. Oxygen consumption and carbon dioxide production were measured in resting and incubating Laysan albatrosses and Bonin petrels on Midway Atoll in the north central Pacific Ocean. 2. 2. Incubation metabolism within the thermal neutral zone is less than or equal to resting metabolism in the albatross and petrel. 3. 3. The respiratory quotients (0.64–0.72) during the long fasts indicate fat metabolism. 4. 4. The estimated fractional water content of the albatross and petrel do not change during incubation fasts because water loss is balanced by metabolic water production.