MOULT AND BREEDING IN THE COMMON NODDY Anous stolidus ON CHRISTMAS ISLAND, INDIAN OCEAN
| Posted: |
21/09/2021 |
| Author(s): |
J. N. Dunlop |
Common noddies on Christmas Island in the Indian Ocean were captured at a social
roost during the breeding season and their primary moult and brood-patch condition was
examined. Early in the attendance period at the roost (May). few noddies showed evidence
of either breeding or primary moult, and very few individuals were engaged in both activities.
Most noddies had started to moult by June and many were incubating and moulting simultaneously.
The number of noddies incubating peaked in early July when almost all breeding
birds showed active wing moult. Moult was not completed during the main laying period.
Although moult overlapped with breeding, it did not advance beyond the third primary in
pre-laying or incubating noddies. However, it had resumed in birds with re-feathering broodpatches,
many of which were rearing chicks. The extensive overlap between moult and
breeding in July presumably corresponds to a period when the nutritional and/or energy
requirements for both activities can be met by the food resources. However, moult was
arrested in pre-laying and incubating birds, possibly because of the nutritional and/or
energy cost of the early stages of the nesting cycle.
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