ANTARCTIC BIRD-BANDING by the FALKLAND ISLANDS DEPENDENCIES SURVEY, 1945-1957 by W
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BIRD-BANDING A JOURNAL OF ORNITHOLOGICALINVESTIGATION Vol. XXIX January,1958 No. 1 ANTARCTIC BIRD-BANDING BY THE FALKLAND ISLANDS DEPENDENCIES SURVEY, 1945-1957 By W. J. L. SLADENAND W. L. N. TICKELL The Falkland Islands DependenciesSurvey (FIDS) organizesex- ploration and researchin the British sectorof the Antarctic, and is uniquein havingmaintained bases in the Antarcticfor more than 13 consecutiveyears. FIDS originatedin 1943, and its first baseswere establishedin 1944. At the end of 1956 therewere 10 basespermanently occupied,with a total of 76 men in the winteringparties (Map I and Polar Record8(57): 526-31, 1957), alsoa temporaryone at Halley Bay on the Weddelt Sea for the Royal Society'sprogram for the Inter- nationalGeophysical Year {IGY), 1957-1958. In 1957 anotherbase (BaseJ• was establishedand occupiedon the Graham Coast,Graham Land t Palmer Peninsula). Unlike that of most other Antarctic expeditions,FIDS policy is to encouragemen to stay for 2 years,and to have hal,f the personnel changingevery year. The resultingmixture of experiencedwith in- experiencedmen facilitates continuity in research.Al. though represented by relativelyfew scientistsin the researchprojects, biology has benefited greatlyfrom this continuity. No betterexample of this can be found than in the FIDS bird-bandingscheme, which was the first extensive bandingprogram for the Antarctic. Otherbanding in the Antarctichas been summarizedby Austin (1957). Here will be outlinedthe objec- tives, methodsand some of the more interestingresul.ts of the FIDS bird-banding,with which both of us have been closel'yassociated. Sladen was medical officerand biologistto the expeditionin 1947-51; he .spent1 year at Hope Bay (BaseD), 1 at SignyIsland (BaseH) and anotheron R.R.S. John Biscoe,the expeditionship. Tickell spentover 2 years,in 1954-57,as biologistand meteorologistat Signy Island. HISTORY OF THE FIDS BIRD-RINGING • SCHEME In late 1944 B. B. Roberts sent from London to 3 FIDS bases,some strips of aluminumalloy for marking penguins,and a set of number punchesfor inscribingthem. Theywere 4 by 1/.2inches in size,and were to be bent in a circle and fastenedwith a clip (as in Fig. 1 C) on the leg. They bore no address.The first were put on 50 nestlingGentoo Penguinsby G. Lockleyat Port Lockroy,Wiencke Island, in February 1945. It was probablyin this samerookery, 30 years earlier, that L. '* Thisis the official title but because this paper is published in the United States, we use 'band,' except in this one instance. Other nations working in the Antarctic, including Australia and New Zealand, use 'band.' 2] SLADEN,TICKELI,, Antarctic Bird-Banding Bird-BandingJanuary Gain of the French Antarctic Expeditionmarked 50 Gentoo Penguins with green celluloid bands i Gain, 1914, and Hayerschmidt,1934). BetweenNovember 1946 and January 1948, 477 Adelie Penguinswere bandedin FIDS with the samealuminum strips, in 1946 at Hope Bay {Andrew and Roberts, 1952), and in 1948 at Red Rock Ridge, Mar- guerite Bay, by B. Stonehouseof FIDS and W. Latady of the Finn RonneAntarctic Research Expedition. Thesetrials on penguinsjustified further banding,and in September 1947, Sl'adenorganised for the first time a schemefor using bands bearing an address.The designsand sizesof bandstaken to the Ant- 'A' FO•RT F' ARGENTIN• LOUBET COAST 'Y' HORSESHOE STONINGTON ISLAND / / / PORT LOCK ROY DECEPTION ISLAND CAPE C•DDES FALKLAND ISLANDS HOPE BAY STON I NGTON ISLAND DEPENDENCIES S URVE'•" ARGENTINE ISLANDS ADMIRALTY BAY S: 1944-1956 $1GNY ISLAND GRyTVIKEN ANVERS ISLAND DANCO COAST LOUBET COAST HORSESHOE ISLAND MAP I FIDS Bases, 1944-56 'Vol.1955XXIX SLADEN,T•CS:ZEE, ztntarctic Bird-Banding [3 arcticwere like thoseused by the BritishTrust for Ornithology(BTO), and read "I.NFORM F.I.D.S. COLONIAL OFFICE LONDON." They wereto be usedat Hope Bay (BaseD) and at Signy Isl.and (BaseH). One of theseaddressed bands, put on nestlingGiant Petrelsby R. M. Laws on 20 March 1948 at Signy Island, gave Antarcticbird-banding its first longsdistancerecovery. On 10 July 1948, about 9 weeksafter oneof theseyoung birds had left its neston Signy Island in early May, it was taken ahve by a fishermanin Fremantleharbour, West Australia, and released12 dayslater in goodcondition (Serventy, 1948). During the brief period, this bird had learnedto fly and had traveled at least, and probablymuch more than, 10,000 statutemiles. Details of further Giant Petrel recoveriesare given in Table V. In October1948 addressedbands were usedon penguinsat Hope Bay (Sladen, 1957). Trials at the sametime with colouredcelluloid flipper bands led to the later use, in December 1949, of addressed aluminumflipper bands on Gentoosin the Falkland Islands, and in 1950on Adeliesand Chinstrapsat SignyIsland (Sl.aden 1952; 543). The FIDS bird-bandingscheme has now becomea well.-established programat almostal.1 of the expedition'sbases. More than 7,200 birds of 17 Antarctic specieshave been banded (Table X). Each year or two FIDS headquartersin Londonsend mimeographed instructions to the FIDS basesand to other interestedorganizations, such as the Australian National Antarctic Research Expedition fANARE), the Scott Pol.ar ResearchInstitute, the IGY Antarctic bases,and holdersof FIDS OperationalInstructions. OBJECTIVES 1. To study local seasonalmovements, and the relationsof breeding groundsto feedingareas Many birds feed in the pack ice, but wherein relationto their breed- ing grounds is still unknown. For PygoscelidPenguins evidence suggeststhat differentspecies have different feeding habitats, e.g. in pack ice as opposedto openwater f•Sladen,1955: 245). Flipper bandscan easilybe seenfrom a shipmoving through pack ice. Local bird move- mentsare of specialinterest in comparingadult movementswith those of immatures. 2. To study more distantmigrations to other regions Giant Petrelsare the only speciesso far recoveredaway from their Antarctic breedinggrounds. Other speciesthat make long travels during the Antarctic winter are discussedlater. 3. To study longevity There are few data on the longevityof sea birds. Speciesfound in the Antarcticare long-lived,and are thereforeworth 'bandingfor this objective. Large numbersof youngmust be ,bandedeach year, as the mortalityin yearlingsis 'high. Continuityis important,and recognition of the individualsmust be assuredby replacingvery worn bands,or addingnew ones. 4. Life-historyand behaviourstudies Studieson speciesthat breedat or near the basesare beingunder- takenfrom time to time by FIDS specialists. }•ird-]•anding 4• SLADEN,TICKELL, •4ntarctic Bird-Banding January 5. Work on penguins Our objectivesare outlinedlater in the discussionof the Pygoscelid Penguins. THE BANDS In 1953 the addressIn/orm F. I. D. S. ColonialOffice London was changedto INFORM F. I. D. S. BRITISH MUSEUM N,4T. HIST. LONDON, but existingstocks of old bandswere usedup first. The metal usedis 99,% aluminum,of soft temper,and is the sameas that usedby the British Trust for Ornithology (BTOt. The FIDS scheme has alwayskept in closeliaison with the BTO. With the exceptionof the penguin strips, which are receivedflat and have to be speciallyfitted, all bandsare suppliedpartly bent into shapeby machine. No permanentbands have been put on Emperor Penguinsin FIDS. Stonehouse•1956) flipper-banded149 King Pen- guins, ,4ptenodytespatagonicus, in South Georgia in 1953-55. The penguin strips describedhere are for the small Pygoscelidand the Macaroni Penguins. With the exceptionof size 6, the serial numbersof which have reached70,000 and over, the first figure ot• all referencenumbers on FIDS bandsindicates the size of the band; e.g. 201673 is size 2:50812 is size 5. As soon as it was discovered in 1955-56 that the end-to-end i butt- end) 'bandsfor Skuas,Gulls and Sheathbillsfrequently came off, or wore downtoo rapidl.y, all size4 bandswere recalledand replacedby size 4 Di (double-inscriptionS. SUMMARY OF GENERAL INSTRUCTIONS SENT TO THE BASES Antarcticbirds may be dividedinto two groupsfor bandingpurposes (Sladen, 1956:55). Group I: consistsof birds that migrate for long distancesaway from the Antarctic. If they are bandedin large enough numbers,long-distance recoveries will provide informationon migra- tion and winteringquarters. They are, in order of priority, the Giant Petrel, Antarctic Skua, Dominican Gull, Sheathbill, Cape Pigeon, Antarctic Tern and Wilson's Petrel. Ai,1these, with the exceptionof Wilson'sPetrel, for which no suitablebands have yet been provided in FIDS, can be banded anywhere in 1.argenumbers. Group II: consistsof birds whosemigrations to and from the pack ice, or South- ern Oceans,make distant recoveriesunlikely, but which breed in large co}oniesand can be found from year to year in the placeswhere origi- nally banded. They are the Adelie,Chinstrap, Gentoo and Macaroni Penguins,Blue-eyed Shag, Dove Prion, Snow Petrel.,Black-bellied Storm Petrel, Antarctic Petrel, Antarctic Fulmar. They are banded onl.y accordingto the researchplans of specialists.There is nothing to be gainedby bandingindiscriminately, for instance,casual penguins marked on the beachesare unlikel.y to be recoveredand wastetime and material.. 'Vol.1958XXIX SLADEN,TICKELL, •4ntarctic Bird-Banding [5 6] SLADEN,TICKELL, •dntarctic Bird-Banding Bird-BandingJanuary Banding,and recaptures Only experiencedpeople should put on bands. An aluminumband is not likely to 1.asta bird's lifetime, so careful checksmust be made from year to year. Worn bands should be replaced,or preferably left untouchedand supplementedwith new bands on other limbs. In this way it will be possibleto