Getting slimmer without dieting or exercising: zebra finches can rapidly lose mass while maintaining food intake and decreasing activity

It is widely accepted that birds can adaptively regulate body mass in different ecological contexts, but little is known about how birds monitor and interpret their body mass or the mechanisms that allow for rapid changes in mass. Using captive zebra finches (Taeniopygia guttata), we experimentally increased perceived mass via attachment of weighted backpacks and provided birds with either an ad libitum mixed-seed diet or supplementary high-fat diet to investigate: (1) how birds assess their own body mass and (2) the physiological and/or behavioral mechanisms birds may employ to rapidly adjust body mass. In both experiments, and independent of diet treatment, birds with weighted backpacks rapidly lost mass within 2 days of backpack attachment while reducing overall activity and maintaining food intake. Additionally, our data suggest that birds interpret body mass via a physical mechanosensory pathway rather than a physiological pathway: rapid loss of mass between days 0 and 2 was not linked to changes in plasma metabolites (glycerol or triglyceride concentrations). We found no evidence that mass loss was a consequence of stress associated with attachment of weighted backpacks (based on plasma corticosterone measures). Our results suggest that the processes of energy balance and mass regulation involve a greater array of mechanisms than simply matching 'energy in', through the amount of food consumed, to 'energy out', dictated by activity. Zebra finches were able to decrease body mass through other, unidentified, mechanisms even while maintaining dietary intake and reducing overall activity.