White-throated sparrows adjust behaviour in response to manipulations of barometric pressure and temperature

Abstract

Correlational evidence suggests that animals may use changes in barometric pressure to predict or respond to changes in weather. Birds adjust the timing of migratory flights and migratory restlessness in response to changing weather, and they make facultative movements in response to storms during winter and breeding. Using the pressure chamber of a hypobaric climatic wind tunnel we tested the responses of white-throated sparrows, Zonotrichia albicollis, to experimental changes in air pressure alone, or air pressure and temperature in combination. Sparrows in wintering (short-day) condition were exposed to gradual changes in pressure/temperature at dawn that simulated large but realistic high- and low-pressure weather systems. During a drop in pressure, birds approached their food cup more quickly and moved more often. There was no effect of increasing pressure and no additional effects of temperature change. Sparrows in spring migratory condition (photostimulated) were exposed to pressure/temperature changes in the evening. Decreases in temperature resulted in less migratory restlessness during the first hour of night, but there was no additional effect of pressure changes. These experimental results indicate that white-throated sparrows can facultatively adjust their behaviour in direct response to changing barometric pressure and temperature.