Abstract
Determining the incubation pattern of northern fulmars (Fulmarus glacialis) at Canadian Arctic colonies is difficult, in part due to challenges with accessing nests and due, in part, to similarities in colour morphs which can be hard to distinguish. We used digital photographs of incubating birds taken ~daily at 49 breeding sites during the second half of the incubation period and compared inter-observer variation in distinguishing incubation shifts by each member of the pair. Using this method gave similar results when different subsets of sites were included and the assessment of incubation shifts by three different people produced similar results, yielding a mean shift duration of 6.4 days. Provided pairs with suitable variation in plumage or bill colour are selected, our results demonstrate that a remote camera technique can provide precise data to assess fulmar responses to annual environmental conditions for feeding and breeding.
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Acknowledgments
We thank Paul Woodard for assistance in 2012 and members of the PLI field crews in previous years for their great work. Assistance with photograph editing and sorting was provided by Justin Buller. Financial and logistic support were provided by Environment Canada (Canadian Wildlife Service, Science & Technology Branch), Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development Canada (Northern Contaminants Program), Natural Resources Canada (Polar Continental Shelf Project), and the National Science and Engineering Research Council. Research was conducted under permits NUN-MBS-12-03, NUN-SCI-12-04, GN WRP 2012-040, N2003J0014 and 3BCPLI1217.
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Gaston, A.J., Pelletier, M., Eberl, C. et al. Incubation shifts of northern fulmars Fulmarus glacialis in the Canadian high Arctic determined by digital photography. Polar Biol 37, 261–267 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00300-013-1429-y
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00300-013-1429-y