Abstract
In the 2009–2010 austral summer, two breeding pairs of king penguins were recorded at Stinker Point, Elephant Island, Maritime Antarctic. This is the first record of king penguins breeding south of 60°S. The finding suggests a possible range extension of this species and increases the number of breeding bird species at Stinker Point, which was recently appointed as an Important Bird Area in Antarctica.
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Acknowledgments
This research was supported by National Institute of Science and Technology—Antarctic Environmental Research—INCT-APA; National Counsel of Technological and Scientific Development—CNPq; Foundation of Research Support, Rio de Janeiro—FAPERJ; Brazilian Antarctic Program; Secretariat of the Interministerial Commission for Sea Resources—SECIRM—and University of Vale do Rio dos Sinos. We thank Elisa de Souza Petersen and Gisele Dantas for providing photographs. Finally, we are grateful to Emily Toriani Moura and Dieter Piepenburg for revising the language of our manuscript.
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Petry, M.V., Basler, A.B., Valls, F.C.L. et al. New southerly breeding location of king penguins (Aptenodytes patagonicus) on Elephant Island (Maritime Antarctic). Polar Biol 36, 603–606 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00300-012-1277-1
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00300-012-1277-1