DOCSLIB.ORG

Retarded Wing Molt in Black-Legged Kittiwakes

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Retarded Wing Molt in Black-Legged Kittiwakes NOTES RETARDED WING MOLT IN BLACK-LEGGED KITTIWAKES STEVE N. G. HOWELL, Point ReyesBird Observatory,4990 ShorelineHighway, StinsonBeach, California 94970 CHRIS CORBEN, P.O. Box 2323, Rohnert Park, California 94927 Prebasicmolt of the primariesin mostspecies of northernhemisphere gulls occurs betweenApril and December(Dwight 1925, Grant 1986, Cramp and Simmons 1983, pers.obs.). Exceptions are mainlytransequatorial migrants, both those that molt primariesafter they have reachedtheir southernhemisphere winter grounds (e.g., Sabine'sGull, Xema sabini;Grant 1986) and thosethat suspendprimary molt betweenthe summerand winter grounds (e.g., Baltic Lesser Black-backed Gull, Larus fuscusfuscus; Jonsson 1998). The completesecond prebasic molt of the Black- leggedKittiwake (Rissa tridactyla) reportedly occurs from May to November,the adult prebasicmolt from June to December(Cramp and Simmons 1983, Baird 1994). Duringthe springof 1999 we notedadult Black-legged Kittiwakes in central Californiathat had not completedtheir prebasicprimary molt. Here we document and discussthis phenomenon. On 21 April 1999, off BodegaHead, SonomaCo., Corbennoted a kittiwakethat appearedto havean outerprimary only partially grown and that showeda largeblack patchalong the leadingedge of the underwing,anterior to the blackwing tip. We thoughtlittle of thisuntil, on 2 May 1999, we examineda kittiwakespecimen found freshlydead on SoutheastFarallon Island, San Francisco Co., on 11 March1999. On thisbird, primaries9 and 10 (P9-10) on the rightwing were worn and retainedand the new P8 was slightlyless than full length;on the left wing P10 was retained,P9 missing(presumed shed), and P8 full length.The tertialsand outer secondarieshad beenreplaced, while the middlesecondaries were retainedand worn;the innertwo subscapulars(nearest the body)had beenreplaced, while the outertwo were old and worn. Rectrix5 on eachside was old and frayedin contrastto the othertail feathers, whichhad beenreplaced. We detectedno activemolt (i.e., pin feathers)on the head, body,or scapulars.The patternof the retainedfeathers on thisbird indicatedthat it wasat ]eastin itsfourth calendar year (CY4), and the specimenhas been deposited at the CaliforniaAcademy of Sciences(CAS 5507). Subsequentto thisdiscovery we recordedmolt data on 33 CY3 andolder kittiwakes observedduring May 1999: singlebirds off BodegaHead, Sonoma Co., on 10 and 11 May, one birdin MontereyBay, MontereyCo., on 15 May, and 30 birdsat Pescadero Creek,San Mateo Co. (nineon 15 May, 21 on 17 May).Of thesebirds, only two were CY3, both of which had full-grownnew primaries.None of the remaining31 birds hadfull-grown outer primaries: one hadP9-10 retainedon bothwings (and P8 about 85% grown),seven had P10 retainedon bothwings (P9 65-100% grown),four had P10 retainedon one wing and shedon the otherwing, and the other birdshad P10 growingbut not full length.Of the 19 birdswith P10 growing,this featherwas 90- 95% of its full lengthon nine birds(with P9 full grown)and 40-70% grownon the other ten birds(P9 90-100% grown).The retainedouter primariesof five birds studiedcarefully on 17 May had a patterntypical of a secondbasic or older(versus juvenal)feather, and thusthese individuals were at leastin their fourthcalendar year. The headpatterns of birdswith retardedmolt varied considerably, but no birdhad the cleanwhite headtypical of alternateplumage. All birdswith retainedprimaries had head markingstypical of basicplumage (with a dark auricularsmudge and a variabledusky wash to the crown and nape). All birdswith P10 growinghad white headswith scattereddusky gray feathers on the auriculars,hindcrown, and nape:at WesternBirds 31:123-125, 2000 123 NOTES longrange, a fewappeared to haveall-white heads. This suggests that those birds with the least retardedprimary molt may have been attainingalternate head plumage concurrentlywith the completionof their prebasicprimary molt. Howell examinedwinter throughspring specimens of kittiwakesat the CAS to determinewhether or not the spring1999 birdswere anomalous. Two of 21 CY3 and olderbirds collected in centralCalifornia from February to April 1907 exhibitretarded molt:CAS 10873 (18 February)with P8-10 retainedon the rightwing, P9-10 on the left with P8 shed,and CAS 10822 (13 March)with P10 80% grown.Three of eight CY3 and older birdscollected from December1907 to February1908 also show ongoingprimary molt, althoughtwo of theseprobably would have completed molt in January.The third specimen(CAS 10888, 17 January)has P8-10 retained,P7 5% grown,and P6 fulllength. An additionalspecimen (CAS 21944, 22 March 1899) also hasretarded molt of the outerprimaries: P9-10 retained,P8 85% grown,and P7 full length.All of theselate-molting birds appear to be CY4 or older,from the patternof the primary covertsand retainedouter primaries(Grant 1986, pers. obs.), and they constituted20% (4 outof 20) of the Januaryto AprilCAS specimensof thisage group. None of the Januaryto Marchspecimens shows suspended molt, i.e., full-grown innerprimaries adjacent to retainedouter primaries. Rather, they suggest a protracted over-wintermolt, with a givenprimary not sheduntil the precedingfeather is almost or completelyfull grown. The retardedbut relatively synchronized schedules of birdsin May 1999, however,suggest that their primary molt may have been suspended earlier in the winter,as hasbeen documented for somespecies of shorebirdswintering in northern temperate latitudes.For example, adult Black-belliedPlovers (Pluvialis squatarola) winteringin northwesternEurope start primary molt in Augustand September.Birds unableto completemolt before the adventof adversewinter weather suspend molt and retaintheir outer one to three primariesuntil the followingspring, when they may completethe molt from Marchto May (Crampand Simmons1983). A combinationof factorscould be responsiblefor retardedmolt in kittiwakes, ultimatelyreflecting reduced energy intake. The most direct factor might be a particularlybad storm, or storms,in early winter before birds completedmolt. Environmentalconditions during preceding seasons might also contribute to a pattern of retardedmolt. For example,following particularly stormy winters birds might be weakenedand unable to startmolt until later than usual. Consequently, they might not completemolt beforethe next winter.During a strongEl Nifio, wintersof 1996-97 through1998-99 wereunusually stormy in the northeasternPacific Ocean, and the food supplyof manyseabirds was reducedthrough summer 1998, as evidencedby widespreadbreeding failures of many species(PRBO unpubl.data; pers. obs). A combinationof any or all of thesefactors could have contributed to the retardedmolt schedulesof the kittiwakeswe observedduring spring 1999. In conclusion,at leastduring some yearssuspended or very protractedwing molt occursin a proportionof the adultBlack-legged Kittiwakes wintering off California.In somebirds, primary molt doesnot finishuntil May or June, takingalmost a year to complete. We thankDiana Humpie and Mike Lynesfor salvagingthe Farallonbird, Douglas J. Longfor allowingaccess to specimensat CAS, DebraL. Shearwaterfor enabling Howell to observekittiwakes in MontereyBay, and PeterPyle, Sophie Webb, and an anonymousreviewer for commentson the manuscript.This is contributionnumber 913 of Point ReyesBird Observatory. LITERATURE CITED Baird,P. H. 1994. Black-leggedKittiwake (Rissa tridactyla), in The Birdsof North America(A. Pooleand F. Gill, eds.),no. 92. Acad. Nat. Sci., Philadelphia. 124 NOTES Cramp,S., and Simmons, K.E. L. (eds.). 1983. Handbook ofthe Birds of Europe, the MiddleEast, and North Africa, vol. 3. OxfordUniv. Press, Oxford, England. Dwight,J. 1925.The gulls (Laridae) ofthe world: Their plumages, molts, variations, relationships,and distribution.Bull. Am. Mus. Nat. Hist. 52:63-408. Grant,P. J. 1986.Gulls: A Guideto Identification. Academic Press, San Diego. Jonsson,L. 1998. BalticLesser Black-backed Gull Larus fuscus fuscus--moult, ageing,and identification. Birding World 11:295-317. Accepted3 May 2000 ,." " ': --_ •':'.•. ..•..:'.".'•C'. " t. ', ß .". 'ø. :•. '•:-'(.'-Z::'-•:::::::'t•'::'•'.:•.•'5 ß "• •ß ' ß. ' .....- :.' •.- •:..•.• :-7..?f•"'..':..:.]"-:•.:.:;•;:•.• c•W----• •i•.... • ß ' ' ß4e ' ßß.' ß. - -ß., - '. ß '. ß-: , ' .. .."-•':;;• • "....'.'- ':4-'-.:c.'•?, • -:•:•? ;• '. ........... ß . -. -. ...-'- .. '- -.. '..... -..•,. !•.'-.•.•.• ..'.•;'.•.r..•o'•',•.•.•;;. .x-'•:'..•'.•:,•:•:"• ...... ........ I;,.....-:. :........::.. •,.'ßß ß ß - ß '.' '-1 '-?....'.. ß"¾ :•E:':"'", • •' . , .. ,,. •.. ß'?- .; ,; ß ,•"'• '.'•' .:.': ;:.:- .'•:.a . •-;...:,' . •.•'.-'i "':'•,..i...'• :x:,! -., .. • '.. Bonaparte'sGull Sketch by Sven Achtermann 125 .
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Order CHARADRIIFORMES: Waders, Gulls and Terns Suborder LARI
    Text extracted from Gill B.J.; Bell, B.D.; Chambers, G.K.; Medway, D.G.; Palma, R.L.; Scofield, R.P.; Tennyson, A.J.D.; Worthy, T.H. 2010. Checklist of the birds of New Zealand, Norfolk and Macquarie Islands, and the Ross Dependency, Antarctica. 4th edition. Wellington, Te Papa Press and Ornithological Society of New Zealand. Pages 191, 223 & 227-228. Order CHARADRIIFORMES: Waders, Gulls and Terns The family sequence of Christidis & Boles (1994), who adopted that of Sibley et al. (1988) and Sibley & Monroe (1990), is followed here. Suborder LARI: Skuas, Gulls, Terns and Skimmers Condon (1975) and Checklist Committee (1990) recognised three subfamilies within the Laridae (Larinae, Sterninae and Megalopterinae) but this division has not been widely adopted. We follow Gochfeld & Burger (1996) in recognising gulls in one family (Laridae) and terns and noddies in another (Sternidae). The sequence of species for Stercorariidae and Laridae follows Peters (1934) and for Sternidae follows Bridge et al. (2005). Family LARIDAE Rafinesque: Gulls Laridia Rafinesque, 1815: Analyse de la Nature: 72 – Type genus Larus Linnaeus, 1758. Genus Larus Linnaeus Larus Linnaeus, 1758: Syst. Nat., 10th edition 1: 136 – Type species (by subsequent designation) Larus marinus Linnaeus. Gavia Boie, 1822: Isis von Oken, Heft 10: col. 563 – Type species (by subsequent designation) Larus ridibundus Linnaeus. Junior homonym of Gavia Moehring, 1758. Hydrocoleus Kaup, 1829: Skizz. Entw.-Gesch. Eur. Thierw.: 113 – Type species (by subsequent designation) Larus minutus Linnaeus. Chroicocephalus Eyton, 1836: Cat. Brit. Birds: 53 – Type species (by monotypy) Larus cucullatus Reichenbach = Larus pipixcan Wagler. Gelastes Bonaparte, 1853: Journ. für Ornith.
    [Show full text]
  • Morphological Variation Among Herring Gulls (Larus Argentatus) and Great Black-Backed Gulls (Larus Marinus) in Eastern North America Gregory J
    View metadata, citation and similar papers at core.ac.uk brought to you by CORE provided by University of New England University of New England DUNE: DigitalUNE Environmental Studies Faculty Publications Environmental Studies Department 4-2016 Morphological Variation Among Herring Gulls (Larus Argentatus) And Great Black-Backed Gulls (Larus Marinus) In Eastern North America Gregory J. Robertson Environment Canada Sheena Roul Environment Canada Karel A. Allard Environment Canada Cynthia Pekarik Environment Canada Raphael A. Lavoie Queen's University See next page for additional authors Follow this and additional works at: http://dune.une.edu/env_facpubs Part of the Ornithology Commons Recommended Citation Robertson, Gregory J.; Roul, Sheena; Allard, Karel A.; Pekarik, Cynthia; Lavoie, Raphael A.; Ellis, Julie C.; Perlut, Noah G.; Diamond, Antony W.; Benjamin, Nikki; Ronconi, Robert A.; Gilliland, Scott .;G and Veitch, Brian G., "Morphological Variation Among Herring Gulls (Larus Argentatus) And Great Black-Backed Gulls (Larus Marinus) In Eastern North America" (2016). Environmental Studies Faculty Publications. 22. http://dune.une.edu/env_facpubs/22 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Environmental Studies Department at DUNE: DigitalUNE. It has been accepted for inclusion in Environmental Studies Faculty Publications by an authorized administrator of DUNE: DigitalUNE. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Authors Gregory J. Robertson, Sheena Roul, Karel A. Allard, Cynthia Pekarik, Raphael A. Lavoie, Julie C. Ellis, Noah G. Perlut, Antony W. Diamond, Nikki Benjamin, Robert A. Ronconi, Scott .G Gilliland, and Brian G. Veitch This article is available at DUNE: DigitalUNE: http://dune.une.edu/env_facpubs/22 Morphological Variation Among Herring Gulls (Larus argentatus) and Great Black-Backed Gulls (Larus marinus) in Eastern North America Author(s): Gregory J.
    [Show full text]
  • Status and Distribution of the Laridae in Wyoming Through 1986
    Great Basin Naturalist Volume 54 Number 4 Article 6 10-25-1994 Status and distribution of the Laridae in Wyoming through 1986 Scott L. Findholt Wyoming Game and Fish Department, Lander, Wyoming Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/gbn Recommended Citation Findholt, Scott L. (1994) "Status and distribution of the Laridae in Wyoming through 1986," Great Basin Naturalist: Vol. 54 : No. 4 , Article 6. Available at: https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/gbn/vol54/iss4/6 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Western North American Naturalist Publications at BYU ScholarsArchive. It has been accepted for inclusion in Great Basin Naturalist by an authorized editor of BYU ScholarsArchive. For more information, please contact [email protected], [email protected]. Creat Basin Naturalist 54(4), e 1994, pp. 34:2:-350 STATUS AD DISTRIBUTIO OF THE LARIDAE IN WYOMI 'G THROUGH 1986 Scott L. Findhoh1 A5~TR.-\n.-To date, 17 species of Laridae have been reported in Wyoming. Six of these species have known breed· ing populations in the state; the Rjng~hilled Gull (Lams delalkuren.sis), Califomia Gull (Larm colifamicus), Herring Gull (Lams argentatus), Caspian Tern {Sterna caspia), Forster's Tern (Stemaforsteri), and Black Tern (Chlidonias niger). Of these species, the California Cull is the most abundant and widespread. In 1984 approximately 1300 nests existed in \Vyoming at six breeding locations consisting of 10 different colonies. In contrast, only smllll breeding populations have been discovered for the remaining five species. The Herring Gull is the most recent addition among Laridae known to nest in Wyoming.
    [Show full text]
  • The Herring Gull Complex (Larus Argentatus - Fuscus - Cachinnans) As a Model Group for Recent Holarctic Vertebrate Radiations
    The Herring Gull Complex (Larus argentatus - fuscus - cachinnans) as a Model Group for Recent Holarctic Vertebrate Radiations Dorit Liebers-Helbig, Viviane Sternkopf, Andreas J. Helbig{, and Peter de Knijff Abstract Under what circumstances speciation in sexually reproducing animals can occur without geographical disjunction is still controversial. According to the ring species model, a reproductive barrier may arise through “isolation-by-distance” when peripheral populations of a species meet after expanding around some uninhabitable barrier. The classical example for this kind of speciation is the herring gull (Larus argentatus) complex with a circumpolar distribution in the northern hemisphere. An analysis of mitochondrial DNA variation among 21 gull taxa indicated that members of this complex differentiated largely in allopatry following multiple vicariance and long-distance colonization events, not primarily through “isolation-by-distance”. In a recent approach, we applied nuclear intron sequences and AFLP markers to be compared with the mitochondrial phylogeography. These markers served to reconstruct the overall phylogeny of the genus Larus and to test for the apparent biphyletic origin of two species (argentatus, hyperboreus) as well as the unex- pected position of L. marinus within this complex. All three taxa are members of the herring gull radiation but experienced, to a different degree, extensive mitochon- drial introgression through hybridization. The discrepancies between the mitochon- drial gene tree and the taxon phylogeny based on nuclear markers are illustrated. 1 Introduction Ernst Mayr (1942), based on earlier ideas of Stegmann (1934) and Geyr (1938), proposed that reproductive isolation may evolve in a single species through D. Liebers-Helbig (*) and V. Sternkopf Deutsches Meeresmuseum, Katharinenberg 14-20, 18439 Stralsund, Germany e-mail: [email protected] P.
    [Show full text]
  • Laughing Gulls Breed Primarily Along the Pacific Coast of Mexico and the Atlantic and Caribbean Coasts from S
    LAUGHING GULL Leucophaeus atricilla non-breeding visitor, regular winterer L.a. megalopterus Laughing Gulls breed primarily along the Pacific coast of Mexico and the Atlantic and Caribbean coasts from s. Canada to Venezuela, and they winter S to Peru and the Amazon delta (AOU 1998, Howell and Dunn 2007). It and Franklin's Gull were placed along with other gulls in the genus Larus until split by the AOU (2008). Vagrant Laughing Gulls have been reported in Europe (Cramp and Simmons 1983) and widely in the Pacific, from Clipperton I to Wake Atoll (Rauzon et al. 2008), Johnston Atoll (records of at least 14 individuals, 1964-2003), Palmyra, Baker, Kiribati, Pheonix, Marshall, Pitcairn, Gambier, and Samoan Is, as well as Australia/New Zealand (King 1967; Clapp and Sibley 1967; Sibley and McFarlane 1968; Pratt et al. 1987, 2010; Garrett 1987; Wragg 1994; Higgins and Davies 1996; Vanderwerf et al. 2004; Hayes et al. 2015; E 50:13 [identified as Franklin's Gull], 58:50). Another interesting record is of one photographed attending an observer rowing solo between San Francisco and Australia at 6.5° N, 155° W, about 1400 km S of Hawai'i I, 1-2 Nov 2007. They have been recorded almost annually as winter visitors to the Hawaiian Islands since the mid-1970s, numbers increasing from the NW to the SE, as would be expected of this N American species. The great majority of records involve first-year birds, and, despite the many records in the S Pacific, there is no evidence for a transient population through the Hawaiian Islands, or of individuals returning for consecutive winters after departing in spring.
    [Show full text]
  • Fuscus and Larus Affixis
    542 Dwight, Larus fuscus and Larus affinis. [q^ THE RELATIONSHIP OF THE GULLS KNOWN AS LARUS FUSCUS AND LARUS AFFIXIS. BY JONATHAN DWIGHT, M. D. Plates XX and XXI. \n approaching many of the problems in modern systemic ornithology, one is confronted with the necessity of steering a middle course between the Scylla of imperfect knowledge on the one hand and the Charybdis of nomenclature on the other. Either may bring us to shipwreck; but mindful of those who have pre- ceded me in writing about the Lesser Black-backed Gull (Larus fuscus), and the Siberian Gull (Larus affinis), I venture with some hesitancy to take up the tangled question of the relationship of these birds and make another endeavor to fix the proper names upon them. Larus fuscus, an abundant European species, was described in 1758 by Linnaeus, and has never been taken on the American side of the Atlantic. L. affinis, however, has stood as a North American ' species in the A. O. U. Check-Lists ' on the strength of a single specimen, the type taken in southern Greenland and described by Reinhardt in 1853 (Videnskab-Meddel, p. 78). Until 1912 these two gulls were recognized as two full species, and then Lowe (Brit. Birds, VI, no. 1, June 1, 1912, pp. 2-7, pi. 1) started the ball rolling by restricting the name fuscus to Scandi- navian birds and describing the paler bird of the British Isles subspecifically as brittanicus. A few months later Iredale (Brit. Birds, VI, no. 12, May 1, 1913, pp. 360-364, with pi.), borrowing the type of affinis from the Copenhagen Museum, where it had rested for half a century, and comparing it with British specimens, found it to be identical with them; but not content with synonymyzing brittanicus with affin is, he reached the conclusion that the Siberian bird was larger and therefore required a new name — antelius.
    [Show full text]
  • First Confirmed Record of Belcher's Gull Larus Belcheri for Colombia with Notes on the Status of Other Gull Species
    First confirmed record of Belcher's Gull Larus belcheri for Colombia with notes on the status of other gull species Primer registro confirmado de la Gaviota Peruana Larus belcheri para Colombia con notas sobre el estado de otras especies de gaviotas Trevor Ellery1 & José Ferney Salgado2 1 Independent. Email: [email protected] 2 Corporación para el Fomento del Aviturismo en Colombia. Abstract We present photographic records of a Belcher's Gull Larus belcheri from the Colombian Caribbean region. These are the first confirmed records of this species in the country. Keywords: new record, range extension, gull, identification. Resumen Presentamos registros fotograficos de un individuo de la Gaviota Peruana Larus belcheri en la region del Caribe de Colombia. Estos son los primeros registros confirmados para el país. Palabras clave: Nuevo registro, extensión de distribución, gaviota, identificación. Introduction the Pacific Ocean coasts of southern South America, and Belcher's Gull or Band-tailed Gull Larus belcheri has long Olrog's Gull L. atlanticus of southern Brazil, Uruguay and been considered a possible or probable species for Argentina (Howell & Dunn 2007, Remsen et al. 2018). Colombia, with observations nearby from Panama (Hilty & Brown 1986). It was first listed for Colombia by Salaman A good rule of thumb for gulls in Colombia is that if it's not et al. (2001) without any justification or notes, perhaps on a Laughing Gull Leucophaeus atricilla, then it's interesting. the presumption that the species could never logically have A second good rule of thumb for Colombian gulls is that if reached the Panamanian observation locality from its it's not a Laughing Gull, you are probably watching it at Los southern breeding grounds without passing through the Camarones or Santuario de Fauna y Flora Los Flamencos, country.
    [Show full text]
  • 1 ID Euring Latin Binomial English Name Phenology Galliformes
    BIRDS OF METAURO RIVER: A GREAT ORNITHOLOGICAL DIVERSITY IN A SMALL ITALIAN URBANIZING BIOTOPE, REQUIRING GREATER PROTECTION 1 SUPPORTING INFORMATION / APPENDICE Check list of the birds of Metauro river (mouth and lower course / Fano, PU), up to September 2020. Lista completa delle specie ornitiche del fiume Metauro (foce e basso corso /Fano, PU), aggiornata ad Settembre 2020. (*) In the study area 1 breeding attempt know in 1985, but in particolar conditions (Pandolfi & Giacchini, 1985; Poggiani & Dionisi, 1988a, 1988b, 2019). ID Euring Latin binomial English name Phenology GALLIFORMES Phasianidae 1 03700 Coturnix coturnix Common Quail Mr, B 2 03940 Phasianus colchicus Common Pheasant SB (R) ANSERIFORMES Anatidae 3 01690 Branta ruficollis The Red-breasted Goose A-1 (2012) 4 01610 Anser anser Greylag Goose Mi, Wi 5 01570 Anser fabalis Tundra/Taiga Bean Goose Mi, Wi 6 01590 Anser albifrons Greater White-fronted Goose A – 4 (1986, february and march 2012, 2017) 7 01520 Cygnus olor Mute Swan Mi 8 01540 Cygnus cygnus Whooper Swan A-1 (1984) 9 01730 Tadorna tadorna Common Shelduck Mr, Wi 10 01910 Spatula querquedula Garganey Mr (*) 11 01940 Spatula clypeata Northern Shoveler Mr, Wi 12 01820 Mareca strepera Gadwall Mr, Wi 13 01790 Mareca penelope Eurasian Wigeon Mr, Wi 14 01860 Anas platyrhynchos Mallard SB, Mr, W (R) 15 01890 Anas acuta Northern Pintail Mi, Wi 16 01840 Anas crecca Eurasian Teal Mr, W 17 01960 Netta rufina Red-crested Pochard A-4 (1977, 1994, 1996, 1997) 18 01980 Aythya ferina Common Pochard Mr, W 19 02020 Aythya nyroca Ferruginous
    [Show full text]
  • Black-Headed Gull Chroicocephalus Ridibundus
    Black-headed Gull Chroicocephalus ridibundus Folk Name: Common Black-headed Gull Status: Migrant Abundance: Accidental Habitat: Open water of lakes and rivers The Black-headed Gull is a Eurasian gull that occasionally shows up in the Carolinas between early August and the end of April. It was first confirmed in North Carolina at Fort Macon on August 10, 1967, and was first confirmed in South Carolina at Huntington Beach State Park on October 29, 1970. It used to be called the “Common Black-headed Gull.” It is almost always seen with Ring- billed Gulls, although one Carolina ornithologist noted “that association may relate more to the abundance of Ring-billed Gulls in winter than any biological affinity it was relocated, several groups of excited observers were between the two.” The Black-headed Gull is a rare but allowed access into the wastewater treatment plant to see regular visitor along the coast of the Carolinas. There this special bird. are only four records of this gull inland in the Carolina Remarkably, a second Black-headed Gull, an adult Piedmont. The first two records were of birds found at bird, was sighted in Mecklenburg County on Mountain Jordan Lake on January 16, 2005, and at Falls Lake on Island Lake on December 16, 2012. Dennis Kent, John December 9, 2010. The latest records are of two sightings Scavetto, and Bill Rowse were scouring the lake during here in the Central Carolinas. the Southern Lake Norman Christmas Bird Count when At times, the discovery of a rare bird is often an they found this bird.
    [Show full text]
  • Nest Spacing in Elegant Terns: Hexagonal Packing Revisited Charles T
    WESTERN BIRDS Volume 39, Number 2, 2008 NEST SPACING IN ELEGANT TERNS: HEXAGONAL PACKING REVISITED CHARLES T. COLLINS and MICHAEL D. TAYLOR, Department of Biological Sci- ences, California State University, Long Beach, California 90840 (current address of Taylor: Santiago Canyon College, 8045 East Chapman Ave., Orange, California 92869); [email protected] ABSTRACT: Within an important breeding colony in southern California, Elegant Terns (Thalasseus elegans) nest in one to several tightly packed clusters. Inter-nest distances within these clusters average 31.2 cm. This value is less than that reported for the larger-bodied Royal Tern (T. maximus) and Great Crested Tern (T. bergii). For Elegant Terns, the modal number of adjacent nests was six (range 5–7). This type of nest arrangement has been previously described as hexagonal packing and now appears to be typical of all Thalasseus terns for which data are available. Many seabirds nest in large, often traditional, colonies (Coulson 2002, Schreiber and Burger 2002). The ontogeny of annual colony formation has been reviewed by Kharitonov and Siegel-Causey (1988), and the evolution- ary processes which have led to coloniality have been considered by a number of authors (Lack 1968, Fischer and Lockley 1974, Wittenburger and Hunt 1985, Siegel-Causey and Kharitonov 1990, Coulson 2002). Seabird colonies may be rather loosely organized aggregations of breeding pairs of one to several species at a single site. At the other extreme, they may be dense, tightly packed, largely monospecific clusters where distances between nests are minimal. A graphic example of the latter is the dense clustering of nests recorded for several species of crested terns (Buckley and Buckley 1972, 2002, Hulsman 1977, Veen 1977, Symens and Evans 1993, Burness et al.
    [Show full text]
  • International Black-Legged Kittiwake Conservation Strategy and Action Plan Acknowledgements Table of Contents
    ARCTIC COUNCIL Circumpolar Seabird Expert Group July 2020 International Black-legged Kittiwake Conservation Strategy and Action Plan Acknowledgements Table of Contents Executive Summary ..............................................................................................................................................4 CAFF Designated Agencies: Chapter 1: Introduction .......................................................................................................................................5 • Norwegian Environment Agency, Trondheim, Norway Chapter 2: Ecology of the kittiwake ....................................................................................................................6 • Environment Canada, Ottawa, Canada Species information ...............................................................................................................................................................................................6 • Faroese Museum of Natural History, Tórshavn, Faroe Islands (Kingdom of Denmark) Habitat requirements ............................................................................................................................................................................................6 • Finnish Ministry of the Environment, Helsinki, Finland Life cycle and reproduction ................................................................................................................................................................................7 • Icelandic Institute of Natural
    [Show full text]
  • Bonaparte's Gull Larus Philadelphia the Only Small Gull Regular in San
    Gulls and Terns — Family Laridae 235 Bonaparte’s Gull Larus philadelphia The only small gull regular in San Diego County, Bonaparte’s Gull is most abundant on the ocean, where, in winter, it can often be seen in flocks of hundreds a short distance offshore. Along the coast, it is much less numerous, though still often com- mon in San Diego Bay or the north county lagoons. Inland, Bonaparte’s Gull is quite irregular, both from lake to lake and from year to year. Even along the coast Bonaparte’s Gull appears to be becoming patchier in its distribution, perhaps as a symptom of the faltering productivity of the ocean off southern California. Winter: Offshore, the flocks of Bonaparte’s Gulls undoubt- edly shift widely with the shifting of fish and plankton. Photo by Anthony Mercieca Onshore, however, the species has a few favored con- centration points, especially the sewage ponds near the 100 on 14 December 1997, B. Schram). At other lakes our Santa Margarita River along Stuart Mesa Road (G5; up counts were of 15 or fewer. Inland, however, the species’ to 70 on 6 December 1998, R. E. Fischer), Buena Vista occurrence is quite irregular, as exemplified by the his- Lagoon (H5; 150 on 7 February 1999, J. Determan), Los tory of Lake Henshaw Christmas bird counts: Bonaparte’s Peñasquitos Lagoon (N7; 100 on 3 January 1999, D. K. Gull has been recorded on 17 of 22 counts 1981–2002, Adams), and the San Diego River mouth (R7; 200 on 22 with a median of 25, a mean of 59, and a maximum of 418 February 2000, V.
    [Show full text]