KEY POINTS:
Jetlag leaves most of us looking the worse for wear and a New Zealand scientist wants to know how migratory birds stay looking good after epic journeys around the world.
Dr Phil Battley, from the Ecology Group at Massey University, has been awarded a fast-start Marsden grant of $170,000 to study how migrating shorebirds cope with the limitations of their multi-purpose coats on journeys of as long as 15,000km in search of mates and food.
"For these birds, feathers are everything - in addition to their use in flight and temperature regulation, plumage is an important method of signalling about sex, condition, social status and identity," Dr Battley says.
A problem with feathers is that they wear out, yet on arrival at their breeding grounds shorebirds need to stay warm and impress potential mates. But somehow the feathers resist wear and tear. Dr Battley will investigate how that is possible.
Birds may invest more in their plumage before their journey, growing stronger feathers that are more resistant to physical breakdown.
Dr Battley will focus on the bar-tailed godwit, which travels from New Zealand to Alaska, with a stopover in northeast Asia.
He will record the birds' appearances before they leave their non-breeding grounds, then at their time at refuelling sites, and then at the breeding grounds.
The levels of melanin, which colours and strengthens feathers, will be investigated to learn more about its role in shaping the visual signals of the breeding plumage.
Dr Battley says he has already noted that bar-tailed godwits appear quite tatty in the breeding grounds of Alaska and Russia.
But what appears tatty to the human eye might not be perceived that way in the bird's eye, he says.
Other research to benefit from the Marsden Fund, which is this year financing 93 new projects, include a mini-submarine exploration of uncharted Australasian marine habitats. The project gets $805,619 over three years.
Researchers, who will be led by Associate Professor Marti Anderson, of Auckland University, and Dr Clive Roberts, from Te Papa, intend to take the mini-submarines to depths of 1000m to explore the Lord Howe Rise seamount.
