Weight loss and anorexia during incubation in birds.

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Abstract
A wide variety of birds exhibit loss of weight and are known to fast during incubation. These instances of weight loss and anorexia may reflect a change in the regulation of energy balance during incubation, not partial starvation due to low food availability. An experiment with Burmese red junglefowl (Gallus gallus spadiceus) showed that making food more readily accessible during incubation has little effect on food intake and weight loss. The suggestion that the loss of weight is regulated was tested by depriving incubating birds of all food for a 6 day period during incubation. The resulting changes in body weight, food intake and next attentiveness accord with such an account. Regulated loss of weight may make possible modes of reproduction that restrict access to food without relinquishing control over energy balance.

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