The annual cycle of southern giant petrels Macronectes giganteus in East Antarctica
We report the first results from a 3-year study of the annual cycle of Southern Giant Petrels Macronectes giganteus in two colonies in East Antarctica. We tested the utility of a system of automated cameras that monitored and recorded events in the colonies year-round. Based on the collected images, we determined a detailed phenology of breeding events and activities throughout winter. The timing of some portions of the annual cycle (e.g., laying dates) were similar, whereas other aspects of the annual cycle differed between locations (e.g., pair formation and length of the non-brooding guard phase). Comparisons with other breeding locations throughout the species' range showed that lay dates vary with latitude but are synchronous at each site.
History
Publication title
Marine OrnithologyVolume
46Pagination
129-138ISSN
1018-3337Department/School
Institute for Marine and Antarctic StudiesPublisher
Pacific Seabird GroupPlace of publication
United StatesRights statement
© Marine Ornithology 2018. Papers published in Marine Ornithology can be freely distributed and archived under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License (CC BY-SA).Repository Status
- Open