SATELLITE TRACKING OF WANDERING ALBATROSSES
SATELLITE TRACKING OF WANDERING ALBATROSSES
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DOI：
10.1038/343746a0
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发表时间：
1990-02-22
期刊：
影响因子：
64.8
通讯作者：
WEIMERSKIRCH, H
中科院分区：
文献类型：
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作者：
JOUVENTIN, P;WEIMERSKIRCH, H
尽管对海鸟陆地繁殖群的研究引起了广泛关注，但了解它们的海上生态，特别是它们的觅食范围和摄食区的位置，仍然是一个重大挑战1。在特定群体或岛屿上筑巢的远洋饲养者的觅食范围纯粹是推测性的2,3。自 18 世纪以来，漂泊信天翁 (Diomedea exulans) 一直被认为是分布范围最广的海鸟之一，据信饲养员在外出觅食时会从巢穴出发前往最远 1,800 公里的地方5,6。在这里，我们描述了使用卫星遥测技术首次成功跟踪鸟类。印度洋西南部的漂泊信天翁的踪迹显示，它们在孵化期间的一次觅食行程中行驶了 3,600 至 15,000 公里。它们的飞行速度可达每小时 80 公里，每天飞行距离可达 900 公里。它们在夜间仍然活跃，特别是在月夜，风似乎对这些信天翁的觅食策略产生了重大影响。详细了解它们在海上的活动可能对保护漂泊信天翁，特别是密切相关的阿姆斯特丹信天翁（D. amsterdamensis）至关重要，这两种信天翁都濒临灭绝7-9。
ALTHOUGH the study of seabirds in their land-based breeding colonies has attracted much attention, an understanding of their ecology at sea, particularly their foraging range and the location of their feeding zones, remains a major challenge1. The foraging range of pelagic feeders nesting on a given colony or island is purely speculative2,3. Since the eighteenth century4, the Wandering albatross (Diomedea exulans) has been thought to be one of the most widely ranging seabirds, and breeders are thought to travel up to 1,800 km from the nest on foraging trips5,6. Here, we describe the first successful tracking of a bird using satellite telemetry. Tracks of Wandering albatrosses in the southwestern Indian Ocean showed that they covered between 3,600 and 15,000 km in a single foraging trip during an incubation shift. They flew at speeds of up to 80 km per h and over distances of up to 900 km per day. They remained active at night, particularly on moonlit nights and wind appeared to have a major influence on the foraging strategy of these albatrosses. Detailed knowledge of their movements at sea may prove critical to the conservation of the Wandering albatross and particularly of the closely related Amsterdam albatross (D. amsterdamensis), both of which are endangered7–9.