Birds are better at regulating heat loss through their legs than their bills: Implications for body shape evolution in response to climate

# Birds are better at regulating heat loss through their legs than their bills: implications for body shape evolution in response to climate [https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.7wm37pw06](https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.7wm37pw06) The dataset includes surface temperature estimates of different surfaces of wild birds taken from infrared thermographs of wild birds in the field, as well as microclimate information collected at the same time and at a similar location. Microclimate measurements were taken using a portable weather station and solar power meter. ## Description of the data and file structure The file includes the data described in the table below. Cells containing 'NA' are present were data are not available (for example where the tarsus surface temperature was not captured on the thermograph). For further details on how the data was collected, please see the published paper. | **Column Name** | **Description** | | ----------- | ----------- | | Date | Sample date | | Observer | Initials of person who took the thermograph | | HourofDay | Sample time | | Location.Name | Name of broad area thermograph was taken | | Species | Species common name | | ScientificName | Genus and species name | | Family | Taxonomic family | | Sex | M = male; F = female; Unk = unknown (determined by plumage or bare part characteristics in the field) | | Age | Adult or Juvenile (determined by plumage or bare part characteristics, as well as behaviours such as begging/being fed by adult birds; birds without obvious juvenile characteristics were presumed to be adults) | | Mass | Body mass for the species, extracted from Avonet data set; used to predict critical body diameter dimensions for heat transfer calculations | | Water.Nearby | Whether there was a water source close to the thermographed bird | | Wet | Does bird appear wet in the thermograph? (cold patches or splashes) | | Distance.Est | Estimated distance (in m) between thermographer and bird | | Air.Temp | Air temperature in degrees C | | Apparent.Temp | Calculated based on the Australian Bureau of Meteorology formula | | GroundMean | Mean ground temperature taken from thermograph region of interest drawn on ground near the bird | | Wind | Wind speed (m/s) | | SE | Solar radiation (W/m2) | | WVP | Saturation water vapour pressure (kPa) | | Humidity | Relative humidity (%) | | Session.Group | Sample session (ID assigned to thermographs taken under similar conditions at a similar time, on the same day) | | FileName | Thermograph ID | | Surface.ID | Surface ID | | Surface.Temp | Surface temperature of body region (surface ID) taken from thermograph | ## Sharing/Access information ## Code/Software