Changes in the Body Temperature during the Annual Cycle and Metabolic Rate in the Raven Corvus corax at Winter Ambient Temperatures

摘要

Internal body temperature of birds is normally about 41 deg C, ranging from 38 to 43.5 deg C in different species. At complete rest, these distinctions are smoothed to a range from 39.5 to 43.0 deg C. In an individual bird, the body temperature is rather stable: daily variations are usually 2 to ~4 deg C; these fluctuations being independent of the air temperature and reflecting the endogenous rhythm of metabolism. Even in Arctic and Antarctic species, the body temperature also varies by only 2 to ~4deg C at ambient temperatures as low as -20 to -50 deg C [1-3].