Tag: Rock Pigeon

Thermal control of metabolic cold defence in pigeons Columba livia

Rock Pigeon (Columba livia) Science Article 1 abstract Metabolic rate (MR) and various body temperatures were recorded in pigeons Columba livia during gradual lowering of the ambient temperature (Ta) and during cold exposure (?10 deg C) for an entire circadian cycle. The aim was to study how changes in MR accorded with the observed body […]

In vivo pectoralis muscle force-length behavior during level flight in pigeons (Columba livia)

Rock Pigeon (Columba livia) Science Article 3 abstract For the first time, we report in vivo measurements of pectoralis muscle length change obtained using sonomicrometry combined with measurements of its force development via deltopectoral crest strain recordings of a bird in free flight. These measurements allow us to characterize the contractile behavior and mechanical power […]

A functional analysis of the primary upstroke and downstroke muscles in the domestic pigeon (Columba livia) during flight

Rock Pigeon (Columba livia) Science Article 2 abstract In domestic pigeons (Columba livia), the electrical activity of the major depressor muscle of the wing, the pectoralis (pars thoracicus), begins in late upstroke well before the wing begins its downstroke excursion. The two architecturally distinct heads of the pectoralis, the sternobrachialis and the thoracobrachialis, are differentially […]