Fledging weights of Gentoo penguin chicks from a colony at Johnson Cove, Bird Island, from 1989 to 2020

• Main Authors: Trathan, Philip, Waluda, Claire, Ratcliffe, Norman
• Format: Dataset
• Language: English
• Published: NERC EDS UK Polar Data Centre 2021
• Subjects: "EARTH SCIENCE","BIOSPHERE","ECOLOGICAL DYNAMICS","COMMUNITY DYNAMICS","INDICATOR SPECIES"; "EARTH SCIENCE","BIOSPHERE","ECOLOGICAL DYNAMICS","SPECIES/POPULATION INTERACTIONS","SPECIES LIFE HISTORY"; "EARTH SCIENCE","BIOLOGICAL CLASSIFICATION","ANIMALS/VERTEBRATES","BIRDS","PENGUINS"; Bird Island; Pygoscelis papua; fledging mass; gentoo penguin; Antarctic; Sandwich Islands; South Sandwich Islands; South Georgia; Johnson Cove; Antarc*; British Antarctic Survey; Gentoo penguin
• Online Access: https://dx.doi.org/10.5285/8d60d83b-d880-4042-b344-42d0551e65be; https://data.bas.ac.uk/full-record.php?id=GB/NERC/BAS/PDC/01285

The weights of fledging Gentoo penguin chicks at Bird Island have been monitored since 1989. The colony at Johnson Cove can have over 1000 breeding pairs. Each year, just before their departure from the colony, a sample of 100 fledgling birds are weighed as part of the Bird Island long-term monitoring programme. This data is submitted to the Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR) as part of their Ecosystem Monitoring Programme (CEMP). This work was funded by Natural Environment Research Council (UK) core funding to the British Antarctic Survey : One hundred days after peak laying (this is defined as the date when 75% of monitored nests have eggs laid), 100 gentoo penguin chicks are caught and weighed at the Johnson Cove colony. To ensure each chick is weighed only once, chicks are temporarily marked after weighing. To aid capture, chicks are rounded up into an area by the rocks at once side of the colony. Firkling hooks are also used which causes slightly less disturbance. The birds are weighed using a 10kg pesola and bag. All data were collected under permit from the Government of South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands. All sampling procedures used were regulated by the British Antarctic Survey Ethical Review Committee in collaboration with Cambridge University and the UK Home Office.