Radiative heat loss in gentoo penguin (Pygoscelis papua) adults and chicks and the importance of warm feet.

Abstract

Adult penguins and their chicks differ considerably in their apparent body insulation. The chicks are covered in down, whereas the adults have the short, hard body feathers characteristic of the family, so mechanisms of heat loss may vary considerably between the two groups. We examined radiative heat loss by measuring body surface temperatures of gentoo penguins (Pygoscelis papua) in Antarctica. At the time the birds were considered to be in their thermoneutral zone, and there was little or no wind. Measurements of infrared emission were made on breeding adults and in large downy, and thermally independent, chicks in relation to environmental temperature. All 28 external body surface sites measured were positively correlated with ambient temperature, although there was considerable intersite variability in the relationship between site temperature and ambient temperature. Foot temperature increased most rapidly per degree ambient temperature increase, followed by the flippers, followed by the trunk. This pattern was particularly pronounced in the chicks, indicating that the exceptional heat-loss capacities of the feet may counteract for the reduced capacity of the flippers. Net heat transfer by radiation was examined using Stefan-Boltzmann's law and preliminary data on the surface area of a gentoo penguin body. This showed that between ground temperatures of 5 degrees and 15 degrees C overall heat transfer remains essentially constant, although radiative heat loss from the trunk decreases, this being counteracted by increasing heat transfer from the flippers and feet. Over the same temperature range the specific radiation heat transfer of the feet increased approximately 100 times faster per degree ambient temperature increase than did that of the flippers. This and the bimodality in foot temperature found in the study birds even under constant ambient temperatures indicate that within the thermoneutral zone heat loss by radiation in gentoo penguins is primarily executed using the feet, through which the blood circulates in pulses.