WG-CEMP-94

The suggestion that sex of Adélie penguins, Pygoscelis adeliae, might be assigned by observing which member of the pair (the male) takes the first long incubation shift (Anon. 1991) was examined for each of the 1990–91, 1991–92 and 1992–93 breeding seasons. There was an 8- or 9-day period when more than 90% of the incubating birds were male and a 6- or 7-day period when more than 90% of the Read More
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Published in Journal of Animal Ecology (1994) 63, 000-000

Published in J. exp. Biol. 000: 000-000 (1994)

The diet of the white-chinned petrel at Bird Island, South Georgia was studied during the chick-rearing period in 1986 by quantitative analysis (by weight, frequency of occurrence and number of individuals) of regurgitated or lavaged adult stomach contents. Antarctic krill was the most important constituent of the diet, comprising over 90% of prey items and forming 47% of the diet by weight; Read More
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Published in: J. Zool., Lond. (1994) 234, 000-000

Indices of predator reproductive status are calculated for CEMP parameters such as adult weight on arrival at breeding colony, duration of foraging trips, breeding population size and success, chick weight and diet, and fur seal pup growth rates (Methods A1-A9, Bl-B2 and C1-C2) using data held at the CCAMLR Data Centre. Preliminary statistical and graphical analyses of the trends shown by Read More
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Observations of nesting Adélie Penguins (Pygoscelis adeliae) were made at Ardley Island during spring 1990 when snow cover was unusually thick at some subcolony sites. Adélie Penguins at these sites had to delay egg laying until the snow melted. Maximum length of fasting periods comprising pre-breeding and incubation was 50 days. Long fasting seemed to have no detrimental effect on breeding. Read More
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Discriminant analysis can use morphometric differences between known male and female birds to predict the sex of unknown individuals in field studies. Geographic variation in size and shape often limits the predictive value of a discriminant function to the population from which it was derived. Specific discriminant functions for populations of five species of fulmarine petrels (Northern Read More
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We applied discriminant analysis to morphometric data from Chinstrap Penguins (Pygoscelis antarctica) to obtain a function that can be used to predict sex. The function correctly classified 95% of 55 individuals. Bill depth was the most important discriminating variable, with males having deeper bills.

Water temperature and krill abundance in Maxwell Bay, Antarctica, were examined using Pygoscelid penguins carrying appropriate sensors linked to position-determining devices. Fifty-three foraging trips from 49 penguins indicated that during December 1991 and January 1992 the temperature in the top 100 m of the water column was highest in the western section of the Bay which concurred with Read More
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Local fish species were used to feed a captive blue-eyed shag Phalacrocorax atriceps bransfieldensis during 45 days of the austral summer at Jubany Station, King George Island, South Shetland Islands. The otoliths identified in pellets were affected by the digestive process and consequently the fish species were differentialy underrepresented in number and size (length/mass). Except Read More
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Forty stomach contents of the blue eyed shag Phalacrocorax bransfieldensis were sampled at Nelson Island, South Shetland Islands, in January 1994. The analysis of the diet showed that fish were by far the main component, followed by octopods, polychaetes and gammarids. Notothenia coriiceps, predominated in frequency (58%) and in weight (65%), whereas Nototheniops nudifrons was the most Read More
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Thirty eight regurgitated casts collected in a colony at Half-moon Island, South Shetland Islands, during January and February 1993, were analyzed to determine the importance of fish in the diet of the blue-eyed shag Phalacrocorax atriceps bransfieldensis. Fish species were identified by means of otoliths found in the casts. The size and weight of the fish were estimated from the otolith Read More
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This paper draws attention to the possible implications for the CCAMLR Ecosystem Monitoring Program (CEMP) of infectious and parasitic disease among penguin being monitored and to this end present a summary of all such diseases of penguin species found in the Antarctic and sub-Antarctic. Haematological and biochemical values for healthy penguins which may be of use in diagnosis are presented Read More
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The study of diseases in wild penguins is important for the identification of endemic diseases and the detection of exotic diseases should these occur. It is also important in the understanding of the degree to which disease may be expected to influence the results of biological studies. Results may be confounded and interpretation made difficult by both the transient and long term presence of Read More
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We present data on sexual dimorphism in some morphological measurements (wing length, head length, bill depth and bill length) in the Antarctic Petrel Thalassoica antarctica. Males were on average larger than females for all measurements. Sexual dimorphism was on average largest for bill depths whereas wing lengths discriminated least between the sexes. A discriminant function including bill Read More
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