In a seasonal world, organisms are continuously adjusting physiological processes relative to local environmental conditions. Due to their limited heat and fat storage capacities, small animals, such as songbirds, must rapidly modulate their metabolism in response to weather extremes and changing seasons to ensure survival. As a consequence of previous technical limitations, most of our existing knowledge about how animals respond to changing environmental conditions comes from laboratory studies or field studies over short temporal scales. Here, we expanded beyond previous studies by outfitting 71 free-ranging Eurasian blackbirds (Turdus merula) with novel heart rate and body temperature loggers coupled with radio transmitters and followed individuals in the wild from fall to spring. Across seasons, blackbirds thermoconformed at night, i.e., their body temperature decreased with decreasing ambient temperature, but not so during daytime. In contrast, during all seasons blackbirds increased their heart rate when ambient temperatures became colder. However, the temperature setpoint at which heart rate was increased differed between seasons and between day and night. In our study, blackbirds showed an overall seasonal reduction in mean heart rate of 108 beats/min (21%) as well as a 1.2°C decrease in night time body temperature. Episodes of hypometabolism during cold periods likely allow the birds to save energy and, thus, help offset the increased energetic costs during the winter when also confronted with lower resource availability. Our data highlight that, similar to larger non-hibernating mammals and birds, small Passerine birds such as Eurasian blackbirds not only adjust their heart rate and body temperature on daily timescales, but also exhibit pronounced seasonal changes in both that are modulated by local environmental conditions such as temperature.

The data was collected via implanted heart rate and body temperature loggers.