Ingested water equilibrates isotopically with the body water pool of a shorebird with unrivaled water fluxes

Abstract

We investigated the applicability of 2H to measure the amount of body water (TBW) and water fluxes in relation to diet type and level of food intake in a mollusk-eating shorebird, the Red Knot ( Calidris canutus). Six birds were exposed to eight experimental indoor conditions. Average fractional 2H turnover rates ranged between 0.182 day−1 (SD = 0.0219) for fasting birds and 7.759 day−1 (SD = 0.4535) for birds feeding on cockles ( Cerastoderma edule). Average TBW estimates obtained with the plateau method were within the narrow range of 75.9–85.4 g (or between 64.6 and 70.1% of the body mass). Those obtained with the extrapolation method showed strong day-to-day variations (range 55.7–83.7 g, or between 49.7 and 65.5%). Average difference between the two calculation methods ranged between 0.6% and 36.3%, and this difference was strongly negatively correlated with water flux rate. Average water influx rates ranged between 15.5 g/day (fasting) and 624.5 g/day (feeding on cockles). The latter value is at 26.6 times the allometrically predicted value and is the highest reported to date. Differences in 2H concentrations between the blood and feces (i.e., biological fractionation) were small but significant (−3.4% when fed a pellet diet, and −1.1% for all the other diets), and did not relate to the rate of water flux (χ2 1 = 0.058, P < 0.81). We conclude that the ingested water equilibrated rapidly with the body water pool even in an avian species that shows record water flux rates when living on ingested marine bivalves.