Physiological Basis of Stomach Oil Formation in Leach's Storm-Petrel (Oceanodroma leucorhoa)

Abstract

We describe the mechanisms and kinetics of stomach oil formation in a representative procellariiform, Leach's Storm-Petrel. We relate the mechanics of stomach oil formation to the process by which procellariiforms are able to use the dietary lipids. We show how birds concentrate food into a store, the composition of which is determined largely by properties of the meals, the lipids, and a specialized gastrointestinal morphology