114] EKLUND,IGY /lntarctica Bird Studies ]•ird-BandApril HOFSLUND,P. ]•. 1952 1952 census of Knife Island. Flicker 24: 162-63. LINCOLN, FaEDEalCK C. 1928 The migration of young North American Herring Gulls. •luk 45: 45-59. WOODBURY,ANGUS M., and Howaa• KNIGHT 1951 Resultsof the Pacific •Gull color-bandingproject. Condor 53: 57-77. Biology Department, University o./ Minnesota, Duluth. ANTARCTIC ORNITHOLOGICAL STUDIES DURING THE IGY By CARLR. EKLUND Explorationand researchstimulated by the InternationalGeophysical Year have beenprimarily concernedwith the physicalsciences. The United States National Committee for IGY and similar committees of other countriesrecognized, however, the unique opportunityfor re- searchin the life sciencesin the remotepolar regions. BecauseIGY personnelwere encouragedto make suchstudies at Antarcticastations, it wasmy privilegeto do ornithologicalwork whiIe servingas Scientific Leaderat Wilkes Stationduring 1957-58. None of the countriesparticipating in the IGY employedornitholo- gists. Except for a zoologistand an ichthyologistassigned to the USSR Mirny Station,no full-timebiologists of any type were at work in Antarctica.Fortunately, most stations had personnelwith training in the biologicalsciences who were sufticientlyinterested to conduct studiesincidental to their primary duties. As we enter the post-IGY period, it is gratifying that the Polar ResearchCommittee of the NationalAcademy of Scienceshas recog- nized a continuing need for Antarctic research in the life sciences. A Panelon Biologyand MedicalScience has been functioning as part of that Committee;on its recommendation,funds have been granted for ornithologicalwork. My purposein this paper is to report ornithologicalstudies con- ductedduring the IGY at sevenUnited Statesstations and, uponthe basisof recentcontact with foreigncountries having Antarctica stations, to list their studies in this field. In the fall of 1956, throughthe USNC-IGY, I initiated a study on the distributionand life history of the South Polar Skua (Catharacta maccormicki). Relatively little has been known of the habits and movementsof this mostsoutherly of all birds, which in January, 1958, wasobserved by Sir EdmundHillary within 80 milesof the SouthPole. The main phaseof the studyrequired the bandingof a representative numberof skuas. Eight nations,including Argentina, Australia, Japan, New Zealand, Norway, USSR, the United Kingdom, and the United States,participated in making this one of the most internationallyco- operative bird studies ever conducted. The normal numbered metal bands were used and, for the first time, a l•/(2-inch-wide colored thermoplasticband also was used. A different color denoted each of eighteen banding stations in Antarctica. This enabled ready field Vol. XXX 1959 EKLUND,IGY AntarcticaBird Studies []_]_5 identificationof the birds' migratory patterns,without requiring cap- turing the bird. Bandingof approximately1,500 skuasat Antarcticstations has been reported thus far. Interesting returns already have been received from Australiaon migrationsto that continent,and from the Belgians, Russians,and Americans on skua movementswithin Antarctica. Many life-historydata on the skua have been obtained,covering nesting and other breedinghabits, non-reproductivebehavior, mor- tality, populations,and local and seasonalmovements. Temperatures of incu.batingskua as well as Adelie Penguin (PygosceIisadeliae) eggswere taken continuously for a nine-dayperiod, using an electronic telemeterinside the eggs. Used for the first time in such research, this instrumenttransmitted a series of pips, or pulses,the rate of whichwas governed by changesof temperatureswithin the egg. A low- frequencyradio receiverwas "tuned in" on the broadcastingegg; pulses were then relayed into a DecadeCounter and recordedby the ob- server. Pulseswere calibrated with knowntemperatures. The penguin egg maintainedan averagetemperature of 92.7ø F., the skua 96.6ø F. (Eklund and CharItoh). New techniquesprovided information on effect of color on other birds, and on daily and seasonalmovements. Thirty Adelie Penguins were dyed yellow, while 180 skuaswere dyed yellow, or scarlet,or were sprayed with one or a combinationof colored enamels. Skua chickswere dyed in the eggs. The survivalrate of coloredversus un- marked chicks yielded interestingdata on the effectsof protective coloration. Marked skuas were flown to the South Pole Station for releasein homing experiments. Studiesat United Statesstations included a surveyof birds of the Windmill Islandsin VincennesBay, site of the Wilkes Station. Seven speciesnest and four others occur in the area. During the survey, a detailedpopulation study was made of the sixteenAdelie Penguin rookerieslocated on theseislands. Forty-ninebirds, representativeof eleven species,were collectedhere for the United States National Museum. Prior to the IGY, during the Antarctic summerof 1955-56, Austin (1957) bandedmore than 500 Adelie Penguinsat Cape Bird and CapeRoyds on RossIsland in McMurdoSound, and at CapeHallet in Victoria Land. He also banded some skuas and Giant Fulmars at theseareas. At Cape Hallett, locationof the joint United States-New Zealand IGY Station, we had to removeall Adelie Penguinsfrom within a measuredtwo-acre site neededfor constructionof the camp. We took7,850 penguins from this area. This figure,when applied to the total 55 acrescovered by the rookery,would indicate a population of over 215,000 birds. Banding of skuas is being continuedat the various stations. In addition,funds have beengranted by the Polar ResearchCommittee for an Adelie Penguinbehavior study to be conductedat the Wilkes Stationby Mr. RichardPenney, a Universityof Wisconsingraduate student.This stationis to be takenover from the UnitedStates by Australia.Banding of the GiantFulmar (Macronectes giganteus) will alsobe carriedout thereby Mr. Penney,Dr. W. J. L. Sladenof Johns 116] EKLUND,IGY ,4ntarcticaBird Studies Bird-BandingApril HopkinsUniversity, and Australianpersonnel as a continuationof an extensivebanding program of this speciesinaugurated in the late 1940'sby Australiaand the United Kingdomat sub-AntarcticIslands and Palmerland. Through its Falkland Island DependenciesSurvey (FIDS), the United Kingdomorganized a bandingproject in 1947, and more than 7,200 birds of seventeenspecies in the Antarcticor sub-Antarctichave been bandedthrough the 1956-57 nestingseason at basesin Palmer- land (Sladen and Tickell). Primary emphasishas been on penguin banding in behaviorismstudies initiatea by Sladen, and on Giant Petrel banding. More than 2,000 of the latter specieshave been "ringed" and this, together with similar work being done by the Australians at several sub-Antarctic islands, has shown a round-the- world movementby this large bird. Extensivebanding of all species is being continuedat FIDS basesto studylocal and seasonalmove. ments,longevity, and fife-history habits. Anotherstudy is beingcarried out at a FIDS baseby Mr. W. L. N. Tickell on the Life History and Behavior of the Dove Prion (Pachy- ptila desolata). Observationswere madeduring IGY on the life cycle of the Emperor Penguin (,4ptenodytesForsterg) at the British Base at Halley Bay in the WeddellSea. Ornimologicalwork at AustralianAntarctic bases during the IGY, in addition to skua banding, consistedprimarily of Emperor Penguin mortalitystudies made by Dr. R. L. Wihing, stationdoctor at Mawson. His findingswere related to the population,topography and weather. Feedinghabits were also studied. In 1957-58 Australia'sDavis Station workers mappedthe distribu- tion of breedingbirds in the Vestfold Hills. During the Antarctic summerof 1958-59the breedinghabits of the SnowPetrel (Pagodroma nivea) are being studiedat the MawsonStation. Australia'sGiant Petrel bandingprogram, which has yieldedmuch interesting data on movements,is also continuingat Macquarie Island, an IGY station in the sub-Antarctic (Ingham). Observationson the ecologyof Adelie Penguinswere made at the JapaneseSyowa Station, and museumcollections were obtainedof local birds (Nagata). A faunal inventory was carried out by .SovietIGY scientistson land and sea areas in the Antarctic and sub-Antarctic from 1955-58. More than 600 ornithologicalcollections representative of elevenspecies werebrought back, including 170 food-habitspecimens, and 332 birds of all specieswere banded. Primary work wasdone by Syroechkovski, Korotkevich,Kirpichnikov and Macushok.Most of the work was con- ducted at Haswell Island, near their main base at Mirny, and at a satellitestation in BungerHills (Lapina). Materialscollected are nowbeing studied at institutionsin the USSR. Theseinclude a comparativeosteological examination of severalpen- guin species,systematic work on the EmperorPenguin, and studies of the anatomyand functionalmorphology of variousAntarctic bird species.Soviet ornithologists are preparing a monographon the birds of Antarctica. ¾ol. XXX 1959 EKLUND,IGY zlntarcticaBird Studies [117 Syroechkovski(1957), zoologistat the Mirny Stationduring 1956- 57, conducted detailed bio-geographicaland ecological studies at Haswell Island. He prepared a zoo-geographicmap on a scale of 1:50,000, showingspecies distribution on the island,and obtaineddata on populations,feeding habits, parasitism, and breeding behavior. Five zones in his bio-geographicstudies included the Antarctic ice shield; lands isolatedfrom the sea, such as the Bunger "oasis"; the "mature Antarctic oasis"or cold desert,having a connectionwith the sea; littoral islands; and sub-Antarcticislands. The Sovietsbelieve