Quote:
Originally Posted by goosey
This makes them look a bit dopey but I was wondering if it is some sort of cooling mechanism?
|
Yes, bird species pant when hot because they lack sweat glands, so they can't cool down cutaneously. When a bird is hyperthermic he has to increase his breathing over the evaporative parts in his breathing system, mouth and pharynx and at the same time not let the carbon levels in the blood drop, something that normally happens during an increased inhaling.
So their breathing system also functions as a thermoregulator and a gas exchanger. Quite clever really!
~*~Frostfire~*~