Seabird behavior, ecology, and demography at Admiralty Bay

• Main Author: King George Island
• Other Authors: The Pennsylvania State University CiteSeerX Archives
• Format: Text
• Language: English
• Subjects: Admiralty Bay; Pygoscelis adeliae
• Online Access: http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/summary?doi=10.1.1.634.7088; http://pal.lternet.edu/docs/bibliography/Public/088lterc.pdf

bay was open, with only some scattered brash ice present. The penguin breeding areas around the field station were covered with heavy snow, leaving no bare ground visible. Presumably, because of this and the presence of heavy pack ice in the area, the Adélie penguin (Pygoscelis adeliae) arrival was delayed and more protracted than in past seasons. Adélies did not begin egg laying until the last week in October, and the peak occurred between 7 and 10 November, about 1 week later than the norm. First incubation shifts were shorter than usual; the males and females took approximately 10- and 9-day shifts, respectively. We suggest that this was probably due to the close proximity of the pack ice, where, we hypothesize, the Adélies go at this time (Trivelpiece, Fraser, and Trivelpiece in preparation), since the pack ice habitat is the only reliable source of food this early in the season. Adélies breeding success was above average: over one chick fledged per pair. We believe the main reason for this success was that the cold, heavy-ice winter resulted in pack ice that was in close proximity to the breeding areas in the spring. The population as a whole, however, remains