In Sturt National Park, near Tibooburra in central Australia, where temperatures can range from freezing to nearly 50°C, there lives a small bird with a white back, forked tail, and — as we’ve just discovered — a very clever strategy to survive its extreme environment.

The white-backed swallow (Cheramoeca leucosterna) is a type of passerine — the largest group of birds, comprising 60 percent of all bird species.

Scientists have long thought these birds incapable of deep torpor — a controlled state of reduced body temperature that saves energy and has been found in many animals in the northern hemisphere, where winters are more severe.

But our new paper, published in the journal Current Biology, shows otherwise.

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Read the full article on Nspirement

#Animals#Birds#Research
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