Da. Croll et al., FORAGING BEHAVIOR AND REPRODUCTIVE SUCCESS IN CHINSTRAP PENGUINS - THE EFFECTS OF TRANSMITTER ATTACHMENT, Journal of field ornithology, 67(1), 1996, pp. 1-9
The effects of radio transmitter attachment on foraging trip duration
and reproductive success of breeding Chinstrap Penguins (Pygoscelis an
tarctica) were studied on Seal Island, South Shetland Islands, Antarct
ica. Attachment of transmitters having a cross-sectional area 0.9% tha
t of the penguin had no significant effect on foraging trip duration,
nest visit duration or the number of foraging trips per nest per day.
Adults equipped with transmitters had significantly lower chick surviv
al rates than control animals, however. This difference resulted from
a higher nest failure rare of transmitter-equipped adults. Most of the
se failures occurred in the early part of the guard period. The averag
e number of chicks raised to the creche stage in successful nests was
similar for control and transmitter-equipped animals. Thus, chick mort
ality occurred as a result of failure of the entire nest (i.e., abando
nment by the adults) rather than lowered chick survival in individual
nests. Nests at which both members were equipped with transmitters fai
led at a higher rate than nests at which one member was equipped with
a transmitter. The transmitters used in this study may be considered a
maximum size to be used for foraging trip duration experiments of med
ium-sized penguins.