MWC Eco-brief: How winter birds do what they do

MWC Eco-brief: How winter birds do what they do

How do birds, such as the horned lark, keep their thin, exposed legs from freezing? Arteries carrying warm blood from the heart run parallel to, and warm, the cooled blood in leg veins before it returns to the heart. This countercurrent heat exchange keeps the legs from freezing and reduces loss of body heat from the bird’s core.

 


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