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Ornithology of the Second Byrd Antarctic Expedition

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Ornithology of the Second Byrd Antarctic Expedition VoL1937 ,541J SIPLEAND LINDSEY, Ornithology inthe Antarctic 147 ORNITHOLOGY OF THE SECOND BYRD ANTARCTIC EXPEDITION BY PAUL A. SIPLE AND ALTON A. LINDSEY THE secondByrd Antarctic Expedition embarkedfrom Boston on October11, 1933. After passingthrough the PanamaCanal, we touched Easter Island, then crossedthe Pacific to Wellington,New Zealand. A southeastcourse from there brought our vessel into ice-filled antarctic waterseast of the RossSea. A large area of unknownocean was explored by ship and airplaneas far eastas the 116th meridian,where we turned westwardagain. One month after the shiphad first enteredthe pack-ice, it reachedthe southernmostshore of the Ross Sea. The Bay of Whales is thatpoint on the circumference of the antarctic continent where the ocean encroachesfarthest toward the pole. Here at 78ø 34t S. and 163ø 56t W., ßthe basecamp was established on the floatingshelf ice of the RossBarrier. The ice-partyoccupied the Bay of Whalesbase from January17, 1934,until February5, 1935,while the shipswintered in New Zealand. The itinerary of the return voyageincluded Dunedin, New Zealand,Easter Island, Albe- •narle Island of the Galapagosarchipelago, and Panama. The expedition arrivedin the United Stateson May 10, 1935,after an absenceof nineteen months. The presentpaper reports the birdsobserved at seaand on the antarctic continentby the writersduring the secondByrd expedition,when Lindsey studiedthe vertebratesof the Bay of Whalesregion, and Sipleworked for two months in Marie Byrd Land. Observationsin the Bay of Whales made by Siple during the first Byrd expeditionare also includedin the discussions of seasonal occurrence. His collection of bird skins made in 1929-30 has beenreported on by Dr. R. C. Murphy in 'OceanicBirds of South America' under the biographiesof the speciesin question. The 1933-35collection made by Lindseyis summarizedbelow. The writers are grateful to ProfessorA. A. Allen and Dr. R. C. Murphy for critical readingof the manuscript,and to Dr. Murphy for verifyingand correcting their identifications of the oceanic-bird material collected, which has been placedin the AmericanMuseum of Natural History. Fifty-four speciesof birds were identified in the courseof the second expedition. Twenty-three of these were non-oceanicbirds which came aboardship from October14 to 30 betweenNew York and Panama. Nine speciesof sparrowsand four speciesof warblerswere amongthe passerine birds. The followinglist includesthe non-passerinebirds identifiedat sea, but not collected. 148 SIPLEAND LINDSEY, O•{tholog• {nl•]• A•7garct{½ [April•Auk GalapagosPenguin, Spheniscus mendiculus Sundevall Sooty Albatross,Phoebetria fusca (Hilsenberg) Light-mantled Sooty Albatross,Phoebetria palpebrata (Forster) Giant Fulmar, Macronectesgiganteus (Gmelin) Cape Pigeon,Daption capensis(Linnaeus) ? Bulwer's Petrel, Bulweria b•dwerii (Jardine and Selby) White-facedStorm Petrel, Pelagodromamarina, subsp. CaribbeanMan-o'-war Bird, Fregatamagnifcens rothschildi Mathews Man. o'-war Bird, Fregataminor, subsp. Flamingo, Phoenicopterastuber Linnaeus Purple Gallinule, Porphyrula martinica (Linnaeus) Red-billed Gull, Larus novaehollandiaescopulinus J. R. Forster Antarctic Tern, Sternaviitara Gmelin White Tern, Gygisalba, subsp. The ornithologicalcollection of the secondByrd Antarctic Expedition consistsof one hundred and seventeenskins, chiefly of the larger oceanic birds. Twenty speciesare included,representing ten families, as follows: Emperor Penguin,Aptenodytes forsteri G. R. Gray Ad•lie Penguin,Pygoscelis adeliae (Hombron and Jacquinot) Black-browedAlbatross, Diomedea melanophris Temminck WanderingAlbatross, Diomedea ex•dans ex•dans Linnaeus Sfiver-grayFulmar, Priocellaantarctica (Stephens) Snow Petrel, Pogodromanivea (Forster) Antarctic Petrel, Thalasso•caantarctica (Gmelin) Pediunker, Adamastorcinereus (Gme]Jn) GalapagosShearwater, Pu.•nus l'herminierisubularis Ridgway Wilson'sStorm Petrel, Oceaniresoceanicus oceanicus (Kuhl) Red-tailed Tropic-bird, Pha•thonrubricauda, subsp. Blue-lootedBooby, Sula nebouxiiMilne-Edwards Masked Booby,Sula dactylatragranti Rothschild SpottedCprmorant, Phalacrocorax punctatus punctatus (Sparrman) GalapagosMan-o'-war Bird, Fregatamagnificens magnificens Mathews South Polar Skua, Catharactaskua maccormicki(Saunders) Brown Skua, Catharactaskua lOnnbergiMathews Dusky Gull, Larus fuliginosusGould Kelp Gull or SouthernBlack-backed Gull, Larus dominicanusLichtenstein Panama Potoo, Nyctibius griseus ALB•.TROSSES.--Throughoutmost of the year the RossSea is completely shutoff from the openPacific by a bandof driftingice as muchas three hundredmiles in width. This is the antarcticice-pack, a purgatoryfor the navigatorbut a paradisefor the observerof bird and mammallife. Unfor- tunatelyfor the latter, no packice wasencountered on our return voyage. However,this broughta measureof compensationin its effecton the south- ward occurrenceof albatrosses,so that the knownnon-breeding ranges of three specieswere extended. The mostsoutherly wanderer of the Diomedeidaeis the Light-mantled Vol.1937 •4-•J SIPLEAND LINDSEY, Ornithology in the Antarctic 149 SootyAlbatross (Phoebetria palpebrata). The southernmostprior recordof this bird is that of Dr. Edward A. Wilson, who died with Scott's sledging party on the returnfrom the pole. In 1904,Wilson had observedthis bird at 74ø S. At the beginningof our return voyagea Light-mantledSooty Albatrosswas patrollingour wake at 77ø 50• S. Three days later, five Black-browedAlbatrosses (Diomedea melanophris) joined us at a south- ward advanceof 3.5 degreesbeyond its formerrecord. The stately Wan- deringAlbatross (Diomedea exulans exulans) appeared at 68ø 40• S.; its previouslimit had beenset at 67ø S. by the naturalistsaboard the 'Scotia' (Clarke,1915, p. 267). Theseare advancesof 230,210 and 100geographical miles,respectively, for the three species.If the albatrosseshad followed a vesselsouthward into thesehigh latitudesthe positionmight not truly representnatural occurrence,but the birds were pickedup on the north- wardvoyage, with oursthe only two shipsinthe entireRoss Sea. On the southwardtrip the first albatrosseswere met at 34ø 3• S. These were the Wandering and the Black-browedAlbatross. In the 'roaring forties'two male WanderingAlbatrosses were collected, the largerweighing 19 poundsand measuring10 feet 9 inchesin extent. SNOWPETREL AND ANTARCTIC PETREL.--We are here concernedprimarily with the nine speciesof antarcticand sub-antarcticbirds whichwere found in summerat the southernlimit of the RossSea, along the Ice Barrier cliff. The Bay of Whalesregion marks the southernmostlimit of eight of these species,a fact whichlends increased interest to'these records. When an experiencedice-pilot in antarcticwaters sights the first Snow Petrel he concludesthat ice is not far away. The first part of its generic name, Pagodroma,means ice, its specificname, ni•ea, meanssnowy, and the bird itself is seldom found far from either ice or snow. This is the most abundantbird in the pack ice. It liveslargely on the shrimp-likereddish crustacean,Euphausia superba, which is also the principal food of the Ad•lie Penguin, the Crab-eater Seal, and other denizensof the antarctic pack. The SnowPetrel's plumage is white with ivory tones;its beak, eyes, tarsl, and feet are black. This would be an altogetherattractive bird were it not for its accuracyand eight-footrange in ejectingthe oily, orange- colored contents of its stomach at the intruder. After four monthsbelow the horizon,the sun reappearsat the Bay of Whaleson August22. The earliestspring migrants are the Snowand the Antarctic Petrels. In 1929, a singleAntarctic Petrel was seenOctober 2, but no Snow Petrels appeareduntil October31. In 1934, a lone Snow Petrel and two Antarctic Petrels arrived October 6. In terms of the calen- dar this is analogousto the Bluebirds'delaying their arrival in the north- easternUnited Statesuntil the first week of April. The last SnowPetrel seenin the autumnwas on 1V•arch13, after whichno birdsof any kind were 150 SIPLEAND LINDSEY, Ornitholog•l inthe Antarctic tAprilrAuk SnowPetrels did not becomecommon in the bay until December,or mid- summer,when they congregatedby thousandson the seariceand barrier cliff near openwater. A few habituallycoursed back and forth alongthe higherridges of pressureice, where it waspossible to collectthem by hiding amongthe ice blocks. A tractor party returningto the basesaw a Snow Petrel flying over the barrenshelf ice forty milesfrom the sea. Though this is the southernmostrecorded individual, several of Scott'ssledging parties saw thesebirds seventymiles inland (Wilson, 1907, p. 90). The breedinghabits have been observed by half a dozendifferent expeditions. No birds breedin the Bay of Whalesregion. The only knownbreeding groundwithin four hundred miles is a rookeryof SnowPetrels discovered by a four-mansledging party which Siple led into the mountainranges of Marie Byrd Land. On the return trip throughKing Edward VII Land an ascentof Mount Helen Washingtonwas made on December19, 1934. A great flock of birds envelopedthe summit of the peak, about one thousand by estimate.Both Snow and Antarctic Petrels were represented, in.approx- imatelyequal numbers, and the presenceof a rookerywas suspected. On the lowerslopes many bleachedpetrel bones were found in the profusematting of lichenscovering the rocks. As the summit was approachedthe bones became more numerous,and fragments of egg-shellswere found. The birds beganswooping at the headsof the two climbers. Finally, at the summit of the peak the rookery
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