Incubation Schedules Among Four Species of Calidridine Sandpipers at Barrow, Alaska

• Main Author: Norton,David W.
• Other Authors: TUNDRA BIOME ANALYSIS OF ECOSYSTEMS COLLEGE ALASKA
• Format: Text
• Language: English
• Published: 1971
• Subjects: Anatomy and Physiology; *REPRODUCTION(PHYSIOLOGY); *ALASKA; BIRDS; EMBRYOS; EGGS; PERIODIC VARIATIONS; BIOLOGICAL RHYTHMS; TEMPERATURE; WEATHER; CLIMATOLOGY; INCUBATION; Barrow; Dunlin; Alaska
• Online Access: http://www.dtic.mil/docs/citations/AD0727579; http://oai.dtic.mil/oai/oai?&verb=getRecord&metadataPrefix=html&identifier=AD0727579

Incubation by four species of Calidridine sandpipers at Barrow, Alaska, was analyzed by telemetric nest temperature recordings, and by direct observation during three field seasons. In the pectoral sandpiper, Calidris melanotos, only the female tends the nest, whereas both sexes share in incubation in the dunlin, C. alpina, Baird's sandpiper, C. bairdii, and the semipalmated sandpiper, C. pusilla. Both the single-sex incubation system of melanotos and the two-sex system of the other three species must be organized such that embryos within each clutch develop and hatch simultaneously, despite low ambient temperatures and unpredictable weather. The salient features of incubation schedules among these sandpipers are discussed. Sponsored in part by the National Science Foundation, Washington, D.C. and Alaska Univ., College.