Data from: Do seaducks minimise the flightless period?: inter- and intra-specific comparisons of remigial moult ...

• Main Authors: Viain, Anouck, Savard, Jean-Pierre L., Gilliland, Scott, Perry, Matthew C., Guillemette, Magella
• Format: Dataset
• Language: English
• Published: Dryad 2015
• Subjects: Melanitta fusca; Somateria mollissima
• Online Access: https://dx.doi.org/10.5061/dryad.p2kf0; https://datadryad.org/stash/dataset/doi:10.5061/dryad.p2kf0

Remigial moult is one of the crucial events in the annual life cycle of waterfowl as it is energetically costly, lasts several weeks, and is a period of high vulnerability due to flightlessness. In waterfowl, remigial moult can be considered as an energy-predation trade-off, meaning that heavier individuals would minimise the flightless period by increasing feather growth rate and energy expenditure. Alternatively, they could reduce body mass at the end of this period, thereby reducing wing-loading to increase flight capability. We studied timing of remigial moult, primary growth rates, flightlessness duration, and the pattern of body mass variation in 5 species of captive seaducks (Melanitta fusca, M. perspicillata, Clangula hyemalis, Histrionicus histrionicus, and Somateria mollissima) ranging in size from 0.5 to 2.0 kg. Their feather growth rates weakly increased with body mass (M0.059) and no correlation was found at the intra-specific level. Consequently, heavier seaduck species and especially heavier ... : Seaducks_Data_Viain_et_al ...