young/adultratio and their dispersalpatterns in given CONSERVATION ISSU ES habitats, and will be invaluableto understandthe life historiesof the birdspecies. This projectis consideredto be one of the strongest endeavoursin the countryto determinethe trends in Table 3. Longevityrecords of . migration,to identifyconservation issues and problems and identifypossible action plans. Years Months The majorachievement of the projecthas been the Crab 9 2 highlightingof the importanceof certainkey wetlandsand Grey Plover 8 11 forest areas in the subcontinent. This has resulted in a Bar-tailed 8 6 better understandingof the ecologyof these habitatsand 9 0 therebygreater protectionof the areas. Lesser Sandplover 20 3 Large Sandplover 10 0 The Great VedaranyamSwamp (now recognisedas a Redshank 12 2 Ramsar site), PulicatLake and Khabertal(also both MarshSandpiper 6 2 Ramsar sites), Dihaila Jheel (a newly discovered non- Greenshank 11 0 breedingsite of the endangeredSiberian Crane), Chari Wood 12 4 Dhand adjoiningthe Great Rann of Kachchhand Gulf of Red-necked 10 5 Mannat Marine National Park on the southeastcoast, are 10 6 some of the key wetlandswhich receivedattention due to CurlewSandpiper 11 0 projectactivities. The respectivestate governmentshave Broad-billedSandpiper 10 2 now includedthese sites in their future actionplans.

Relative masses of primary feathers in waders

L.G. Underhill & R.W. Summers

Underhill,L.G. & Summers,R.W. 1993. Relativemasses of primaryfeathers in waders. Study GroupBull. 71: 29-31. L.G. Underhill,A vianDemography Unit, Department of StatisticalSciences, University of Cape Town,Rondebosch, 7700 SouthAfrica, and SchweizerischeVogelwarte, CH-6204 Sempach, Switzerland. R.W. Summers, Lismore, Mill Crescent, North Kessock, Inverness, IV1 1XY, Scotland, UK.

Summers et al. (1983) showedthat moultscores of this note is to suggesta standardprocedure for retrappedRedshanks totanus tended to increase determiningthe relativemasses and for computingPFMG. more slowlytowards the end of primarymount than near Improvedstandardisation of methodswill facilitate the beginning.This was partlybecause the outer comparisonsbetween species and betweenareas in the primariesare longerand heavierthan the innerprimaries. timing and duration of moult. Therefore,by convertingmoult scores to percentage feathermass grown (PFMG) onecan makethe patternof To date,the relativemasses of the primarieshave been increasewith time more linear (Summers1980). A "moult determinedfor 13 wader species(Table 1). For these index"that increaseslinearly with time is one of the speciesand each primary,the maximumdifference underpinningassumptions of the moultmodel of Underhill betweenthe average relative masses and the relative & Zucchini(1988), and PFMG is undoubtedlymore closely massesfor the individualspecies was 1.3%. The linear with time than the traditional moult score. In order consistentdifferences were for Grey PloverPluvialis to computePFMG, the relativemasses of the primary squatarola,which appears to have relativelylighter inner feathersfor the speciesunder consideration need to be and heavierouter primariesthan average, and Redshank known. for whichthe oppositepattern occurs (Table 1).

One of the purposesof this note is to pointout that, for The recommendedprocedure for findingrelative masses those wader speciesfor whichthe relativemasses of the was describedby Summerset al. (1980), and is repeated primariesare known,there is sufficientlylittle variation to here,with somerefinements. Primary feathers in good suggestthat a set of average values mightsuffice for all condition(i.e. showinglittle feather wear and with no (or at least most)wader species. The otherpurpose of broken-offtips) are needed. The basesof the feathers

29 mustbe clean and undamaged. If they meet the criteria, genera not representedin Table 1, and for charadriids, the feathers from both wings shouldbe used. The both migrantand resident. We wouldbe gratefulto feathers are labelled, dried to constant mass in a receiveair-dried fresh wings from any wader (including convectionoven (24-48 hours at 60øC),and then weighed thosein Table 1), witha sampleof no morethan five pairs as rapidlyas possible. Forwaders, 1 mg accuracyis of wings. Thus, in future,we wouldbe ableto updateour adequate. The feathers start reabsorbingmoisture as knowledgeof relativemasses of primaries. soon as they cool off; this can be checkedfor by reweighingthe firstfew feathers after the last feather has Relativeprimary masses for five non-wadersare givenin been weighed. Underhilleta/. (1991, Table 17), and all are differentfrom each otherand fromthe valuesgiven for waders in Table To determinethe relativemasses of each primaryfor a 1, which should therefore not be used for other families. singlebird, add togetherthe massesof corresponding pairsof primaries(assuming both wings were used),and divideby the total massof all 20 primariesfor that bird. If ACKNOWLE DG EM ENTS data from several are available, the means (and standarddeviations) of the relativemasses of each LGU acknowledgessupport from the Universityof Cape primaryfor each birdare computed. Other orderingsof Town Research Committee and from the Foundation for the steps in doingthe calculationsare possible,and most ResearchDevelopment, Pretoria. Unpublisheddata was will lead to identicalor nearlyidentical results. The key providedby the WesternCape WaderStudy Group pointis that the samplesize shouldbe the numberof (WCWSG) and J.S. Marks,who, alongwith R.P. Prys- birds,not the numberof wings. Fromprevious Jones, commented on an earlier draft. experience,the standarddeviations should be small,and the coefficientsof variationcan be expectedto be less than about 2%. REFERENCES To transformthe primarymoult score for a waclerwith Ginn, H.B. & Melville, D.S. 1983. Moultin birds. BTO Guide 19. moultrecorded according to the system of Ginn & Melville Tring:British Trust for Ornithology. (1983)as s1 s2s3s4s5s6s7s8s9s 10 (e.g. 5554310000) into PFMG, the formulaof Underhill& Zucchini(1988) is Kania,W. 1990. The primarymoult of breedingDunlins recommended: alpinain the centralTaimyr in 1989. WaderStudy GroupBull. 60: 17-19. 10 Marks,J.S. in prep. Moltof Bristle-thighedCurlews in the PFMG= ,?_.,mip(si) NorthwesternHawaiian Islands. [Submittedto in September1992.] wheremiis the relativemass of the ith primary,and p(si) Summers,R.W. 1980. On the rateof changeof moultscores in isthe massof a featherwith a moultscore s/relative to its waders. WaderStudy Group Bull. 28: 24. masswhen it isfully grown. The values for m/may be Summers, R.W., Swann, R.L. & Nicoll, M. 1983. The effects of takenfrom Table 1, andthose for p(si) (assumed to be the methodson estimatesof primarymoult duration in the same for each primary)from Table 2. The examplein RedshankTdnga totanus. Bird Study 30:149-156. Table 3 showsthat a primarymoult score of 5554310000 Summers,R.W., Underhill,L.G., Clinning,C.F. & Nicoll,M 1989. transformsto a PFMG of 28.1%, indicatingthat the bird Populations,biometrics and moultof the TurnstoneArenaria has grown28% of the primaryfeather mass (whereas the interpres.with special reference to the Siberianpopulation. traditionalmoult score formed by summingthe scoresfor Ardea 77: 145-168. the individualfeathers suggests that the bird has Underhill,L.G., Oatley, T.B. & Harrison,J.A. 1991. The role of completed23/50=46% of itsprimary moult). If the wader large-scaledata collectionprojects in the studyof southern had beena Grey PloverPluvialis squatarola, and the African birds. Ostrich 62: 124-148. "correct"relative masses for thisspecies had been used Underhill,L.G. & Zucchini,W. 1988. A modelfor avian primary insteadof the averagevalues, the PFMG wouldhave been moult. Ibis 130: 358-372. calculated at 24.7%, and, if a Redshank, as 31.1%. These discrepanciesrepresent virtually the worstcase deviations amongstthe 13 speciesconsidered, but will not introduce seriousbiases in the estimatesof the moultparameters by the methodof Underhill& Zucchini(1988).

Of the 13 specieslisted in Table 1, 12 representfive of the generawithin the Scolopacidae,but all are migrants.Only one ploverCharadriidae is includedin Table 1. Therefore, thecurrent and provisional guideline is thatfor migrant scolopacidsand possibly charadriids, the averagerelative primarymasses from Table 1 maybe usedto compute PFMG. Furtherinformation is requiredfor otherwader families,but also for "resident"scolopacids, such as the AfricanSnipe nigripennis, for scolopacidsfrom

3O