GROWTH OF LITTLE STINT CALIDRIS-MINUTA CHICKS ON THE TAIMYR PENINSULA, SIBERIA

Growth of mass and linear body dimensions (bill, tarsus and wing lengt h) was studied in the Little Stint Calidris minuta at several location s on the Taimyr Peninsula, Siberia (73 degrees-76 degrees N) in 1983-9 4. Little Stints fledged at near-adult body mass, at 15 days of age. G rowth followed an S-shaped pattern which was best described mathematic ally by a logistic curve. Curves of this type showed that growth was s imilar between study sites and years, although there were differences in mass development during the first days after hatching, perhaps rela ted to weather conditions. When the logistic growth curve was used, K- L (the standard measure of maximum growth rate) was 0.285. Conversion of this parameter to another S-shaped curve, the Gompertz curve which has been widely used to describe wader chick growth, yields K-G = 0.19 4. This is higher than predicted from an allometric relationship based on 15 other precocial wader species, and might be related to the Litt le Stint's high latitude breeding range.