[Tweeters] Pigeon Guillemot in Breeding Plumage in Early February?

[HAL MICHAEL]

There was a part I forgot to add about food supply initiating breeding.  In some Australian waterfowl breeding commences following sufficient rainfall.  The way the information was phrased, the rains are not necessarily seasonal, so it overrides day length.  
Hal Michael
Board of Directors, Ecologists Without Borders http://ecowb.org/
Olympia WA
360-459-4005
360-791-7702 (C)
ucd880 at comcast.net




>     On 02/07/2023 11:23 PM Michael Price <loblollyboy at gmail.com> wrote:

> 

> 

>     Dennis Paulson writes: <In all three regional cormorants, the only visible sign of it are breeding plumes and bare-skin color, not so obvious except at close range but indeed very dramatic then.

> 

>     This isn't the first time I have wished I could add photos to a post! ;-) >

> 

>     Likewise, Dennis. I have to take mild issue with the contention that all cormorants show only plumes and bare-skin color changes when in Alternate plumage. In such plumage, Pelagic and Red-faced (RFCO) both show quite conspicuous white flank patches. So when about a third of the Prospect Point lot disappear in all-dark nonbreeding plumage in mid-November and reappear in mid-January with big white bum-patches characteristic of breeding plumage--well, what's a boy to do but conclude these (returning?) birds are rarin' to go, reproductively? Otherwise, what's their flash new plumage for?

> 

>     Such an early initiation of breeding display would inspire the question that Hal Michael raises, of piscivores taking advantage of a mid- to late-winter fishery to promote breeding success.

> 

> 

>     _______________________________________________

>     Tweeters mailing list

>     Tweeters at u.washington.edu

>     http://mailman11.u.washington.edu/mailman/listinfo/tweeters

> 

-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://mailman11.u.washington.edu/pipermail/tweeters/attachments/20230208/3945cd10/attachment.html>