Abstract
Aim We test the hypothesis that tarsus length in all shorebirds breeding in the Canadian arctic shows an evolutionary response to average metabolic stress encountered across the breeding range, such that birds nesting in metabolically stressful environments have relatively shorter legs. Longer‐legged birds living in colder environments will experience greater metabolic costs because their torsos are elevated farther away from the ground's wind‐dampening boundary layer. Methods We use weather data (temperature, wind speed, global solar radiation) from 27 arctic weather stations measured over 37 years, and a previously published model of heat transfer, to characterize the metabolic harshness over the breeding season of the ranges of each of the 17 shorebirds of the family Charadriidae nesting in the Canadian arctic. Results After controlling for the lengths of two other body extremities (wing and bill), there was a significant negative relationship between tarsus length and mean metabolic harshness. This result was obtained whether species were treated as independent data points, or in a comparative analysis using standardized independent contrasts. Main conclusions We support a unique extension of Allen's rule: body‐supporting appendages of homeotherms may be shorter in colder environments so as to take advantage of a boundary layer effect, thereby reducing metabolic costs.