A Determination of the Caloric Density and Major Body Components of Large Birds
- 1 July 1968
- Vol. 49 (4) , 792-794
- https://doi.org/10.2307/1935553
Abstract
A procedure is described for determining the live—weight caloric density and major body components of large birds by using a series of random homogeneous aliquots of the total biomass. The procedure is illustrated with data from 6 adult mourning doves. Statistical analyses indicate that the procedure described is capable of producing uniform aliquots with respect to the percentage composition of the major body components of water, fat and lean dry weight. In future biomass analyses of large birds, it may be possible to obtain reliable estimates of the live—weight caloric density and major body components by processing 10% or less of the bird's total live weight, providing that the carcass is sufficiently homogenized to produce a series of uniform aliquots. The lean dry biomass of the 6 doves had an average energy content of 5.14kcal/g,and using this figure, an average caloric density of 2.61kcal/g live weight was calculated.This publication has 0 references indexed in Scilit: