Does food shortage delay development of homeothermy in European shag nestlings (Phalacrocorax aristotelis)?

Nestlings seem to face a trade-off between reducing the basal level of energy metabolism, as an energy-saving response, and maintaining thermogenic capacity during temporal food shortage. In the present study we examined developmental responses to short-term diet restriction of 12-16 day old nestling European shags kept under laboratory conditions and tested whether temporal food shortage delay the development of homeothermy. During food shortage the European shag nestlings substantially reduced basal level of energy metabolism, resulting in significant energy savings. The reduction in basal level of energy metabolism corresponded with a reduction in peak metabolic rate. At the same time, the low peak metabolic rate of diet-restricted nestlings was offset by a lower mass-specific minimal thermal conductance, and an increased mass-specific absolute scope. Consequently, the insulation and the portion of peak metabolic rate available for regulatory thermogenesis seemed to develop normally, as expected from age, during the period of food shortage. Further, the degree of homeothermy, measured as the index of homeothermy, was not significantly lower in diet-restricted nestlings compared to controls at the same age. We conclude that temporal food shortage did not significantly delay the development of homeothermy in the European shag nestlings despite substantial reductions in basal level of energy metabolism and peak metabolic rate.