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 Station,no full-timebiologists of any type were at work in .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 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, , 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 seriesof 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 Station for releasein homing experiments. Studiesat United Statesstations included a surveyof birds of the Windmill Islandsin VincennesBay, site of the . 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 . He also banded some skuas and Giant Fulmars at theseareas. At , 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 stationin 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 that a broad discussionof questionsconcerning birds of Antarctica is desirable,and suggesta symposiumpertaining to the problemsbe held at an International OrnithologicalCongress. Such a discussion is needed. Prior to IGY six Emperor Penguin rookerieshad been locatedin Antarctica,and existenceof anotherwas suspectedin the area. The known rookeriesincluded in the McMurdo Sound area at longitude169 ø E., the ,first ever discovered;the Dion Islet rookery off the west coast of Palmerland, south of Adelaide Island, where the British conducted the first detailed studies of the species; a rookery near Gaussbergin King Wilhelm II Land at longitude89 ø E. reportedby the Germans;the Point Geologierookery in AdelieLand at longitude140 ø E. whichwas studied by the French; the HaswellIsland rookeryat longitude92 ø E. discoveredby Mawson in 1915; and a rookery at Taylor Glacier on MacRobertsonCoast at longitude61 ø E. reportedby the Australiansin 1955 (Eklund). Known populationfigures for all theserookeries totaled lessthan 40,000 birds. The Cape Crozier rookery, found in 1902 by Dr. Edward Wilson of the British National Antarctic Expedition, was visited by New Zealandscientists in September1957 (Balham). It had shiftedposi- tion somewhatfrom its original location on the sea ice and had about 1,000 adult birds, approximatelyfive timesthe estimatedpopulation 50 years earlier. During the IGY five new Emperor Penguin rookerieswere dis- coveredby the Australians,bringing to six the knownnumber between longitudes55 ø E. and 80 ø E. Two other rookeries were found in the WeddellSea area at Halley Bay and GouldBay, numbering21,000 and8,000 birds respectively. These discoveries confirmed earlier reports of thepresence of breedingbirds. AnotherEmperor Penguin nesting area, with the largestpopulation foundto date,was discovered from a helicopterin December1958 by CaptainJohn Cadwalader of the United StatesNavy and Mr. John Dearborn,a biologistat StanfordUniversity. Located approximately 250 milesnorth of McMurdoSound at latitude73 ø .S.,longitude 169 ø E., betweenCoulman Island and Lady NewnessShelf Ice, the rookery containedan estimated50,000 birds. Known EmperorPenguin rook- eriesnow numberfourteen, with an estimatedpopulation of morethan 135,000. With officialrecognition of the life sciencesby the International Councilof ScientificUnion's Special Committee on AntarcticResearch (SCAR)in a continuingpost-IGY Antarctic program, it is hopedthat long-rangeornithological studies can be conducted.Much remainsto 18] GeneralNotes ]•ird-BandingApril

be done in this region, and it is hopedthat ornithologistswill lend interest,support, and guidanceto the program. This can be accom- plishedthrough the Polar Research•Committee Panel on Biology and Medical Scienceof the National Academy of Sciences.

REFERENCES Ausr•N, O•.Iv•.RL., JR. 1957. Notes on banding ,birds in Antarctica, and on the Adelie Penguin coloniesof the Sector. Bird-Banding, 27: 1-26. BaLIISM, ROGEa. Personal correspondence. Research Section, Wildlife Div., New Zealand ,Dept. Int. Affairs, Wellington, N. Z. Dec. 1958. EKLUND,Caa•. R. 1956. Antarctic faur•a and some of its ,problems,in Antarctica in the International Geophysical Year. Geophysical M,onograph No. 1, Am. Geophys.Union, Nat'l. Acad. Sci., Wash., D.C., publ. No. 462, I•P- 117-123. • and CIIaax•?oN, Fav.Dv. aIcK E. 1958. Measuring the temperatures ef incubating penguin eggs. ResearchReviews, Office of Naval Research,USN, Wash., D.C., pp. 1-6. Dec. Reprinted in Amer. Scientist, 47(1): 80-86, March, 1959. INGI-•aM, Susan E. Ornithological work at Australian Antarctic Stations. Per- sonal correspondence,Bio. Secr't. ANARE, Dept. Ext. Affairs, Me}bourne, C. 1., Victoria, Australia, Oct. 22, 1958. Lap•sa, I. J. A short summary of ornithological work .conducted by Soviet scientists in the Antarctic from 1955-58. Personal correspondence, Sci. Seer't, Soviet Ant. Cormre.,M. Haritonyevsky4, Moscow,TSEN, CR, USSR. Noes?a, Ta•;•s•. Ornithologyand gene,al •bi.ologyin JapaneseAnt. Res. Expeds. Personalcorrespondence, Secr't. JapanseseNCIGY, Geophys.Inst. Tokyo U., Tokyo, Japan.Oct. 16, 1958. SLaDEN,W. J. L., .and T•CKEL%W. L. N. 1958. Antarctic birdsbandingby the Falklan.d Islands DependenciesSurvey, 1945-1957. Bird-Banding,29: 1-26. SYNOCCHKOVSKI,Y. Y. 1958. Geographic investigations in the Antarctic. Izv. Acad. Sci. (Geograph. Series), Moscow, No. 6: 163-169. Polar Research Division, Army Research Office, Washington 25, D.C.

GENERAL NOTES

Orientation of Gannets*.•The first real advanc.e in the study of bird orientation was made after the Second World War, when Gustav Kramer of the Max Planck Institute at Wilhelmshaven in W,est Germany discovered that Starlings were able to choose a definite direction, using only the sun and no visible horizon. His later experiments showed that pigeons could be •;aught to feed at the same compassdirection, regardlessof time of day; vhen vhat the p•geon's ".clock" could be shifted through several hours ,but could not be speeded up or slowed down. The birds "knew" there were twenty-four hours in a day; they would not subscribe to any longer or shorter working hours. Kramer's first pt•blicationswere in Germ,an,but his work has been summarized in English (Kramer 1952, 1957). A number of theories by which birds may use the sun to navigate have been proposed, presuming the birds can decide where they are and where their homing goal is. These controversial theories are perhaps best summarized in Matthews' (1955) Bird Navigation, and by Kramer (1957) (but see also Allen, 1956). Bird navigation, which assumesactual knowledge of location bot.h of the wanderer and his home, differs from orientation which assumes only that the wanderer can establish d•finite compass directions, not that the bird knows where it is or where its home is. For recent comprehensivereviews of ,homing experiments, before and after Kramer's first , see Griffin (1952, 1955). One of Griffin's own exper- iments was to release Gannets (Sula bassoho) near the center of Maine and to follow them .with a light aeroplane. It was presumedthat these Gannets were "looking" for home. The few birds he •as able to follow for a c.onsiderable distanceseemed to be using an expandingsearc.h pattern. An expanding search pattern starts from a point and extends out from it as a helix, keeping the same point as center.