Banding Recoveries and the Dispersal of Seabirds Breeding in French Austral and Antarctic Territories

Abstract

SUMMARY WEIMERSKIRCH, H., P. JOUVENTIN, J.L. MOUGIN, J.C. STAHL AND M. VAN BEVEREN. 1985. Banding recoveries and the dispersal of seabirds breeding in French Austral and Antarctic Territories. Emu 85: 22–33. The paper summarises banding activities on French Austral and Antarctic Territories and recoveries between 1951 and 1982. Out of 61,807 birds banded, 192 were recovered elsewhere. Maps give the location of all these recoveries. Variations in the recovery rates are discussed. The fidelity rate to the hatching grounds is close to 100% for breeding birds. Spatial segregation in winter is established between different populations or species nesting on antarctic or sub-antarctic localities. From recoveries and observations at sea, four methods of oceanic resource utilization during the non-breeding season are defined for 22 species: sedentariness, migration and the concentration over rich zones of food availability, dispersion throughout the Southern Ocean and a combination of the second and third methods. The importance of food availability the ecology of albatrosses during the non-breeding season is discussed.