Outside JEB - Starving Knots maintain food-processing capacity

Description

It's not fair. At the same time that we enjoyed ample Christmas dinners and complained about the consequent weight gain, many animals remained hungry as their prey vanished during the cold winter months. Even long-distance migrating shorebirds, such as red knots (Calidris canutus islandica), are affected by food deprivation if the food reserves in their winter homes become scarce, ultimately facing starvation in the worst case. In the final critical phase of starvation, when fat reserves are already depleted, animals eventually resort to breaking down protein stored in organ systems that are essential for survival. But do animals equally catabolise all organs during starvation or are certain organs protected from consumption as fuel for metabolism?