MSGID: 1:317/3 643f6e6a   
   PID: hpt/lnx 1.9.0-cur 2019-01-08   
   TID: hpt/lnx 1.9.0-cur 2019-01-08   
    Bird feeding helps small birds fight infection    
      
     Date:   
         April 18, 2023   
     Source:   
         Lund University   
     Summary:   
         Seeds and fat balls do more than just fill small birds'   
         stomachs. New research from Lund University in Sweden shows that   
         feeding during the wintertime causes birds to be healthier, since   
         they do not have to expend as much energy fighting infections.   
      
      
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   FULL STORY   
   ==========================================================================   
   Seeds and fat balls do more than just fill small birds' stomachs. New   
   research from Lund University in Sweden shows that feeding during the   
   wintertime causes birds to be healthier, since they do not have to expend   
   as much energy fighting infections.   
      
      
   ==========================================================================   
   A small change in body temperature can be fatal for humans. Small birds,   
   meanwhile, lower their body temperature at night by several degrees   
   during the winter. Just like us, the birds attempt to save energy when   
   it is cold. If they are exposed to infection, the body's first reaction   
   is to raise its temperature, which clashes with the bird's simultaneous   
   need to save energy by lowering body temperature.   
      
   "We investigated how access to food during winter affected the balancing   
   act between maintaining a low body temperature in order to save energy,   
   and the possibility of raising body temperature in order to fight   
   infection," says Hannah Watson, biologist Lund University.   
      
   The study shows that birds who were fed during the winter did not need to   
   lower their body temperature as much at night as birds who did not have   
   access to feeding tables. They had gathered enough energy to survive a   
   winter night in spite of a having higher body temperature.   
      
   When the birds were exposed to a simulated infection, all the birds had   
   essentially the same temperature during a fever. Instead of conserving   
   energy to survive the winter, the birds without access to extra food   
   were forced to use more energy in order to raise their body temperature   
   high enough to battle infection.   
      
   "We had expected to find that the birds that had access to birdfeeders   
   would have more energy to fight an infection, and that as a result they   
   would exhibit a stronger fever response. Our results, however, show the   
   opposite -- birds that did not have access to a reliable source of food   
   had the strongest reaction to infection. This enabled them to reach the   
   same fever temperature as the birds with extra food," says Hannah Watson.   
      
   Climate change and human activity are having an ever-increasing impact   
   on animals. Wild animals come into contact with new pathogens that they   
   have never encountered before. Bird feeding, then, can have positive   
   and negative effects.   
      
   Birds that visit feeding tables are exposed to more infection because of   
   the spread of pathogens, but this could make their immune defences more   
   tolerant to a new infection. It is therefore important, the researchers   
   argue, to understand the factors that affect animals' capacity to put   
   up an effective immune response -- access to food during winter being   
   one such example.   
      
   "A lot of people like to feed the birds. Our study shows that this can   
   have a positive effect on the capacity of our small birds to fight an   
   infection," concludes Hannah Watson.   
      
       * RELATED_TOPICS   
             o Plants_&_Animals   
                   # Birds # Nature # Bird_Flu_Research # Zoology #   
                   Marine_Biology # Bacteria # Animals # Agriculture_and_Food   
       * RELATED_TERMS   
             o Hawk o Seed_predation o Hummingbird o Owl o Toucan o   
             Bird_intelligence o Bird o Dodo_and_related_birds   
      
   ==========================================================================   
   Story Source: Materials provided by Lund_University. Note: Content may   
   be edited for style and length.   
      
      
   ==========================================================================   
   Journal Reference:   
      1. Hannah Watson, Jan‐AAke Nilsson, Johan   
      F. Nilsson. Thermoregulatory   
         costs of the innate immune response are modulated by winter food   
         availability in a small passerine. Journal of Animal Ecology,   
         2023; DOI: 10.1111/1365-2656.13914   
   ==========================================================================   
      
   Link to news story:   
   https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2023/04/230418101422.htm   
      
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