La Tour du Valat

Institut de recherche pour la conservation des zones humides méditerranéennes

Titre :	Duration of primary moult affects primary quality in Grey Plovers Pluvialis squatarola
Auteurs :	L. Serra, Auteur
Type de document :	Article
Dans :	Journal of Avian Biology (32(4) DEC 2001)
Article en page(s) :	377-380
Langues:	Anglais
Résumé :	Feather wear is the natural degradation and breakage of feather structure during the interval between moults. Different rates of feather wear have been observed for primaries of free-living populations of several species of passerines and waders, and this variability has been linked to different concentrations of melanins. In this study primary moult duration explained 59% of the variation in annual rates of primary abrasion (percentage wing length loss) of seven Grey Plover wintering populations, while migration distance explained 14%. The analysis suggests that primary moult duration plays a key role in determining primary durability and hence primary quality. Long distance migants might evolve more durable primaries, despite the higher predation risks and energetic costs of a prolonged moult. Partial or complete pre-breeding primary moults of first-year waders and complete biannual moults of some passerines might have evolved under selective forces favouring migration with unabraded primaries.

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