The over-winter movements of a chinstrap penguin (Pygoscelis antarctica)

Abstract

A single chinstrap penguin (Pygoscelis antarctica), which had moulted at the South Shetland Islands, was subsequently tracked during 120 days at sea in the austral winter using a global location system (geolocation) based on light intensity. The bird moved east along the Scotia Ridge to a point approximately 300 km west of the South Sandwich Islands and approximately 1600 km away from the colony in which it had moulted. It spent more than 60% of its time in open water north of the edge of the pack ice.

Spatial and isotopic niche partitioning during winter in chinstrap and Adélie penguins from the South Shetland Islands

“…Winter tracking studies of chinstrap penguins are comparatively scarce, but two studies from the South Shetland Islands suggested a mixture of movement patterns that include retention near breeding colonies during early winter versus larger-scale (.1000 km), directed eastward movement toward the South Orkney and South Sandwich Islands along the confluence of the Scotia and Weddell seas (Wilson et al 1998). We observed these patterns and add a third major pattern of largescale westward movement into remote pelagic regions of the Bellingshausen and Amundsen Seas.…”

“…The high degree of westward movement is therefore curious because there are no major chinstrap colonies west of the South Shetland Islands that could be a potential source population. It is unknown if this westward movement pattern has developed since earlier tracking studies were conducted or whether previous tracking studies from the South Shetland Islands did not reveal this behavior because sample sizes were small (Wilson et al 1998). Of note, Ratcliffe et al (2014) reported that the macaroni (Eudyptes chrysolophus) and rockhopper (E. chrysocome) penguins tracked from South Georgia and the Falkland Islands exhibited high rates of occupancy in the Scotia Sea during winter.…”

“…Habitat availability and foraging conditions encountered during winter may be important drivers of the observed changes in penguin abundance in the Antarctic Peninsula region (Hinke et al 2007), further suggesting the need to examine dispersal routes and foraging habitats of these species during winter. A constraint of such monitoring, however, is that Adélie and chinstrap penguins exhibit seasonal migrations between summer breeding sites and winter foraging habitats that may be separated by hundreds or thousands of kilometers (Wilson et al 1998, Clarke et al 2003, Ballard et al 2010, Biuw et al 2010. Accordingly, direct comparisons of marine habitat use and foraging niches of these sympatric competitors during the non-breeding season remain an important gap in our understanding of Adélie and chinstrap penguin ecology.…”

“…Adélie penguins are typically observed in marginal ice zones while chinstrap penguins often are observed in open waters north of the ice edge (Ainley et al 1994). Winter tracking studies have confirmed seasonal occupancy of ice zones for Adélie penguins (Clarke et al 2003, Ballard et al 2010, Dunn et al 2011, Erdmann et al 2011 while chinstrap penguins tend to be in areas typically free of ice (Wilson et al 1998, Biuw et al 2010. Even so, the previous tracking studies have examined the winter movements of each species in isolation.…”

Genetic structure of declining chinstrap penguin (Pygoscelis antarcticus) populations from South Shetland Islands (Antarctica)

“…Satellite telemetry studies conducted to determine the winter movements of chinstrap penguins from King George Island showed differences in winter migratory behaviour of this species (Wilson et al 1998;Trivelpiece et al 2007). These differences may reflect individual ties to two different ancestral epicentres of chinstrap penguin populations: a well-established site on the South Shetland Islands and relatively recent one that arose from emigration during the expansion of this species in the mid-1900s ).…”