Diving Seabirds Live Hard and Die Suddenly

Diving birds like guillemots die quickly after reaching their 30s, with few signs of deterioration, a recent study finds.

Brünnich's guillemots have the highest flight costs of any bird. Kyle Elliott

[video]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MuM1bfojZBI[/video]

Diving birds like guillemots die quickly after reaching their 30s, with few signs of deterioration, a recent study finds. The results could improve our understanding of the aging process.

For four summers, a team of French and Canadian researchers studied behavior and metabolism in Brünnich’s guillemots, Uria lomvia, at Coats Island in Hudson Bay, Canada.

These long-lived birds have high metabolisms and spend a lot of energy on diving. However, they remain active and capable even toward the end of their lives.