Moult intensity in blue petrels and a key moult site off West Antarctica
Abstract Blue petrels ( Halobaena caerulea Gmelin) rapidly moult their flight feathers in Antarctic waters in February–April, immediately following the breeding season, yet the behaviour of moulting birds at sea has not been described. We observed large numbers of moulting blue petrels off West Anta...
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crcambridgeupr:10.1017/s0954102019000427 2024-09-15T17:42:20+00:00 Moult intensity in blue petrels and a key moult site off West Antarctica Ryan, Peter G. Lee, Jasmine R. Bouard, Fabrice Le 2019 http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s0954102019000427 https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/S0954102019000427 en eng Cambridge University Press (CUP) https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms Antarctic Science volume 32, issue 1, page 1-9 ISSN 0954-1020 1365-2079 journal-article 2019 crcambridgeupr https://doi.org/10.1017/s0954102019000427 2024-06-26T04:04:17Z Abstract Blue petrels ( Halobaena caerulea Gmelin) rapidly moult their flight feathers in Antarctic waters in February–April, immediately following the breeding season, yet the behaviour of moulting birds at sea has not been described. We observed large numbers of moulting blue petrels off West Antarctica from 67–71°S and 78–119°W in mid-February 2017. Most of these birds probably breed at the Diego Ramirez archipelago, southwest of Cape Horn, which is the closest colony to this area. Moulting petrels often sit on the water in dense flocks, just outside the marginal ice zone, at sea temperatures of -0.7 to 0.9°C. Wing moult is intense, with 7–8 inner primaries (62–75% of primary length and 55–69% of primary mass), their corresponding primary coverts and all greater secondary coverts being grown at the same time. Moulting petrels need a reliable food source during this energetically demanding period, so the waters off West Antarctica are probably crucial for the Diego Ramirez population, which makes up more than half of the world's blue petrels. Article in Journal/Newspaper Antarc* Antarctic Antarctic Science Antarctica West Antarctica Cambridge University Press Antarctic Science 32 1 1 9 |
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Open Polar |
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Cambridge University Press |
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crcambridgeupr |
language |
English |
description |
Abstract Blue petrels ( Halobaena caerulea Gmelin) rapidly moult their flight feathers in Antarctic waters in February–April, immediately following the breeding season, yet the behaviour of moulting birds at sea has not been described. We observed large numbers of moulting blue petrels off West Antarctica from 67–71°S and 78–119°W in mid-February 2017. Most of these birds probably breed at the Diego Ramirez archipelago, southwest of Cape Horn, which is the closest colony to this area. Moulting petrels often sit on the water in dense flocks, just outside the marginal ice zone, at sea temperatures of -0.7 to 0.9°C. Wing moult is intense, with 7–8 inner primaries (62–75% of primary length and 55–69% of primary mass), their corresponding primary coverts and all greater secondary coverts being grown at the same time. Moulting petrels need a reliable food source during this energetically demanding period, so the waters off West Antarctica are probably crucial for the Diego Ramirez population, which makes up more than half of the world's blue petrels. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Ryan, Peter G. Lee, Jasmine R. Bouard, Fabrice Le |
spellingShingle |
Ryan, Peter G. Lee, Jasmine R. Bouard, Fabrice Le Moult intensity in blue petrels and a key moult site off West Antarctica |
author_facet |
Ryan, Peter G. Lee, Jasmine R. Bouard, Fabrice Le |
author_sort |
Ryan, Peter G. |
title |
Moult intensity in blue petrels and a key moult site off West Antarctica |
title_short |
Moult intensity in blue petrels and a key moult site off West Antarctica |
title_full |
Moult intensity in blue petrels and a key moult site off West Antarctica |
title_fullStr |
Moult intensity in blue petrels and a key moult site off West Antarctica |
title_full_unstemmed |
Moult intensity in blue petrels and a key moult site off West Antarctica |
title_sort |
moult intensity in blue petrels and a key moult site off west antarctica |
publisher |
Cambridge University Press (CUP) |
publishDate |
2019 |
url |
http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s0954102019000427 https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/S0954102019000427 |
genre |
Antarc* Antarctic Antarctic Science Antarctica West Antarctica |
genre_facet |
Antarc* Antarctic Antarctic Science Antarctica West Antarctica |
op_source |
Antarctic Science volume 32, issue 1, page 1-9 ISSN 0954-1020 1365-2079 |
op_rights |
https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1017/s0954102019000427 |
container_title |
Antarctic Science |
container_volume |
32 |
container_issue |
1 |
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1 |
op_container_end_page |
9 |
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1810488853048328192 |