Subject: Re: close encounters of the bird kind
Date: Jul 19 10:36:38 1995
From: Stuart MacKay - stuart.mackay at mccaw.com


There are plenty of close encounters to be had in the arctic. On our study
site in northern Norway a lot of the birds are pretty tame - but little stints
(Calidris minutus) and red-necked phalaropes (blah, blah) are especially
humbling. For stints we often have to pick the bird off the nest to measure
the eggs. The best though was with a phalarope which started brooding the
chicks we had just banded while they were sitting in the banders hand !!!

When I first started banding Kittiwakes (Rissa tridactyla) in Caithness,
Scotland we could often walk/climb up to the nest and stroke the adults while
they were sitting on eggs - pretty amazing.

Incidently if you are ever banding cormorant chicks try scratching them on
the back of the neck. Quite often they will fall asleep in your arms. It
certainly works for Shag (Phalacrocorax aristotelis). I suspect it simulates
preening/grooming which Shags use as part of pair/family bonding.


Stuart
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stuart.mackay at mccaw.com
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