Lavigne A J, Bird D M, Lacombe D, Negro J J
Avian Science and Conservation Centre, McGill University, Ste. Anne de Bellevue, Quebec, Canada.
Growth Dev Aging. 1994 Winter;58(4):203-9.
The body composition of young American kestrels (Falco sparverius) hand-fed either a protein-rich diet (day-old cockerels Gallus domesticus) or a fat-rich diet (laboratory mice Mus musculus) was determined one day after fledging. Mouse-fed fledglings (n = 16) had significantly greater fat deposits than cockerel-fed birds (n = 15), while the crude protein content of the carcass was unaffected by the diets. At fledging, mouse-fed birds showed a significantly greater wingloading than cockerel-fed birds. Larger fat reserves (as in mouse-fed birds) might be mobilised in the event of a food shortage and thus these birds would be at an advantage in relation to fledglings with smaller reserves. On the other hand, large fat deposition, which alters wingloading, might impair the flight performance of the fledglings.
对刚出飞一天的美国雀鹰（美洲隼）的身体组成进行了测定，这些雀鹰要么被人工喂养富含蛋白质的食物（一日龄小公鸡），要么被喂养富含脂肪的食物（实验小鼠）。食用小鼠的幼鸟（n = 16）的脂肪沉积明显多于食用小公鸡的鸟类（n = 15），而胴体的粗蛋白含量不受饮食影响。出飞时，食用小鼠的鸟类的翼载荷明显高于食用小公鸡的鸟类。在食物短缺的情况下，较大的脂肪储备（如食用小鼠的鸟类）可能会被调动起来，因此这些鸟类相对于储备较小的幼鸟会具有优势。另一方面，大量的脂肪沉积会改变翼载荷，可能会损害幼鸟的飞行性能。
