Abstract
Magellanic Penguins (Spheniscus magellanicus) are common winter visitors of the Brazilian continental shelf. In this study we report the occurrence of discolored and worn-out plumage in juvenile Magellanic Penguins washed ashore during summer on the southeast and northeast coast of Brazil. In the affected individuais, the areas of the plumage that would normally be black or dark grey were discolored to tones ranging from brown to cream-white, especially on the head and dorsum. Upon close examination, the feathers were often brittle and appeared “old” and worn-out, at times leading to irregular and asymmetric patches of feather-loss in the lower back. We propose five factors that could be involved in causing this condition: (a) molt skipping, (b) sun exposure, (c) malnutrition, (d) insufficient preening, and (e) chewing lice.
Article PDF
Similar content being viewed by others
Avoid common mistakes on your manuscript.
References
Boersma P.D., Steinfurth A., Merlen G., Jiménez-Uzcatégui G., Vargas RH. & Parker P.G. 2013a. Galápagos Penguin (Spheniscus mendiculus), p. 285–303. In: García-Borboroglu P. & Boersma PD. (eds.) Penguins: natural history and conservation. Seattle: University of Washington.
Boersma P.D., Frere E., Kane O., Pozzi L.M., Pütz K., Raya-Rey A., Rebstock G.A., Simeone A., Smith J., van Buren A., Yorio P. & García-Borboroglu P. 2013b. Magellanic Penguin (Spheniscus magellanicus), p. 233–263. In: García-Borboroglu P. & Boersma PD. (eds.). Penguins: natural history and conservation. Seattle: University of Washington.
Culik B., Hennicke J. & Martin T. 2000. Humboldt Penguins outmanoeuvring El Nino. Journal of Experimental Biology 203: 2311–2322.
García-Borboroglu P., Boersma P.D., Ruoppolo V., Pinho-da-Silva-Filho R., Corrado-Adornes A., Conte-Sena D., Velozo R., Myiaji-Kolesnikovas C., Dutra G., Maracini P., Carvalho-do-Nascimento C., Ramos-Jr. V., Barbosa L. & Serra S. 2010. Magellanic Penguin mortality in 2008 along the SW Atlantic coast. Marine Pollution Bulletin 60: 1652–1657.
Kemper J. & Roux J.P. 2005. Of squeezers and skippers: factors determining the age at moult of immature African Penguins Spheniscus demersus in Namíbia. Ibis 147: 346–352.
Kose M., Mand R. & Moller A.P. 1999. Sexual selection for white tail spots in the Barn Swallow in relation to habitat choice by feather lice. AnimalBehaviour 58: 1201–1205.
Moreno-Rueda G. 2010. Uropygial gland size correlates with feather holes, body condition and wingbar size in the House Sparrow Passer domesticus. Journal ofAvian Biology 41: 229–236.
Moreno-Rueda G. 2011. House Sparrows Passer domesticus with larger uropygial glands show reduced feather wear. Ibis 153: 195–198.
Petry M.V., Corrêa L.L.C., Benemann V.R.F. & Werle G.B. 2017. Brown plumage aberration records in Kelp Gull (larus dominicanus) and Magellanic Penguin (Spheniscus magellanicus) in southern Brazil. Revista Brasileira de Ornitologia 25: 125–127.
Pütz K., Schiavini A., Rey A.R. & Lüthi B.H. 2007. Winter migration of Magellanic Penguins (Spheniscus magellanicus) from the southernmost distributional range. Marine Biology 152: 1227–1235.
Rodrigues S.C., Adornes A.C., Santos-Filho E.A., Silva-Filho R.P. & Colares E.P. 2010. Surviving probability indicators of landing juvenile Magellanic Penguins arriving along the southern Brazilian coast. Brazilian Archives of Biology and Technology 53: 419–424.
Shawkey M.D., Pillai S.R. & Hill G.E. 2003. Chemical warfare? Effects of uropygial oil on feather-degrading bactéria. Journal of Avian Biology 34: 345–349.
Stokes D.L., Boersma P.D., de Casenave J.L. & García-Borboroglu R. 2014. Conservation of migratory Magellanic Penguins requires marine zoning. Biological Conservation 170: 151–161.
Traisnel G., Pichegru L., Visser HJ. & Edwards L.C. 2018. Colour aberrations in African Penguins Spheniscus demersus. Marine Ornithology 46: 19–22.
van Grouw H. 2013. What colour is that bird? The causes and recognition of common colour aberrations in birds. British Birds 106: 17–29.
van Zeeland Y.R.A. & Schoemaker N.J. 2014. Plumage disorders in psittacine birds - part 2: feather damaging behaviour. European Journal of Companion Animal Practice 24: 24–36.
Williams T.D. 1995. lhe penguins. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Wolfaardt A.C., Underhill L.G. & Visagie J. 2009. Breeding and moult phenology of African Penguins Spheniscus demersus at Dassen Island. Afican Journal of Marine Science 31: 119–132.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article's Creative Commons licence, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article's Creative Commons licence and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this licence, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/.
About this article
Cite this article
Vanstreels, R.E.T., Hurtado, R., Egert, L. et al. Discolored and worn-out plumage in juvenile Magellanic Penguins (Spheniscus magellanicus) found ashore in southeast and northeast Brazil. Rev. Bras. Ornitol. 26, 202–206 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF03544430
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF03544430