Abstract
We report the results of an expedition to a barnacle-goose (Branta leucopsis) breeding area in Kolokolkova Bay, west of the lower Pechora delta in northern Russia, undertaken in July 2002. In total, 6 breeding colonies were found within the study area, harbouring 1,324 nests. Mean clutch size was 2.77±0.10 but may have been underestimated because of nest predation. Nest predation was high and correlated with the density of breeding gulls, Larus. The 2002 season was relatively cold and peak hatch occurred late, on 14 July. More than 11,000 barnacle geese were found to moult in the area which, together with the large number of nests found, emphasises the importance of Kolokolkova Bay for barnacle geese. Adult barnacle geese (341) were captured, marked and measured during their annual wing moult. Birds with broods started to moult approximately 2 weeks later than non- and failed breeders. Weight loss during moult was 3 times as rapid as reported for barnacle geese breeding in the Baltic, and a large cost of reproduction seemed to exist in the form of reduced body weight at the onset of moult for birds leading broods. Work in the area will continue over the coming years to document and explain the differences in major life-history parameters, dynamics and environmental effects between arctic and temperate breeding barnacle-goose populations.
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Acknowledgements
Many thanks go to Vladimir Elsakov, Sandra van der Graaf, Kirstin Janssen, Olga Lavrinenko, Alexander Moskvin, Ruurd Noordhuis and Svetlana Vavilova for their indispensable help in the field and for helping to make this expedition such a success. Comments by Ingunn Tombre and one anonymous referee greatly improved the manuscript. H.J. was supported by a grant from the Swedish Foundation for International Cooperation in Research and Higher Education (STINT) while in Oxford. G.E. was supported by a grant from the Marianne und Dr. Fritz Walter Fischer Stiftung.
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van der Jeugd, H.P., Gurtovaya, E., Eichhorn, G. et al. Breeding barnacle geese in Kolokolkova Bay, Russia: number of breeding pairs, reproductive success and morphology. Polar Biol 26, 700–706 (2003). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00300-003-0535-7
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00300-003-0535-7