Completion of Bird Banding Project at Palmer Station Antarctica

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The Palmer Archepelago extends extends from Tower Island (63o33'S 59o51'W) in the north to the Joubin Islands (64o47'S 64o27'W) in the south, and experiences a more maritime climate than the Antarctic continent. The productivity of the surrounding waters supports colonies of a large number of charadriiform bird species (sheathbills, gulls, skuas, and terns), many of which do not migrate. Due to the remoteness of the location, very little is known about birds living in this region. Parmelee has been surveying bird populations of the Palmer Archepelago since the early 1970's, and has compiled extensive information on age structure, breeding fidelity, and longevity for a variety of species during studies on the behavior and ecology of birds adapted to this unique polar environment. Under this award Parmelee will synthesize information previously collected and compile it in a monograph which will cover the entire Palmer archipelago. The monograph will combine many small projects, highlight significant findings, preserve base-line information for areas previously unexplored, and present results from unpublished field notes on numbers, habitats and colony locations for all charadriiform bird species. The monograph on bird species of the Palmer Archepelago will be a useful reference volume for ornithologists and for agencies concerned with Antarctic living resources.