Article

Moult of Budgerigars Melopsittacus undulatus

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Abstract

In captive Budgerigars Melopsitticus undulatus moult of primaries started in the middle of the tract and moved progressively inwards and outwards, the inner feathers being replaced faster than the outer ones. Full replacement of primaries took six to eight months and a new cycle of moult usually started before completion of the old cycle. Moult of secondaries followed no clear pattern and occurred less frequently than moult of primaries. Moult of rectrices started with the middle pair and moved progressively outwards on both sides. Complete moult of rectrices took about six months and a new cycle often started before completion of the old. Moult of the head and body occurred intermittently throughout the year. Birds fledged in juvenal plumage, they passed into first basic plumage with a partial moult (head and body feathers) and into definitive basic plumage with a moult of all contour feathers. In the field in inland mid-eastern Australia, there were some birds replacing feathers and some with complete plumage in most months of the year. Birds with complete plumage may have been between moults or within a moult and between replacement of feathers. The proportion of birds in moult did not increase in intensity after breeding, or cease during breeding or before movements. Some birds of both sexes with gonads in a reproductive condition were replacing feathers. Rirds that were replacing feathers had similar lipid deposits to birds that had a complete plumage.

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Several colonies of Black Noddies Anous tenuirostris on Boatswain Bird Island, off Ascension, were studied for almost a year, including the whole of one breeding period and the start of another. Between the breeding periods the noddies roosted on their ledges in the breeding colonies, so observations could be made throughout the year. The single eggs were laid on small ledges, usually on steep cliffs; nest material was scarce, and some eggs fell off the ledges during incubation, but many young were reared successfully in the first part of the breeding period. However, food shortage resulted in slow growth and eventual death of all the chicks hatched later in the season, and the weights of adults were also low at this time. It was shown that individual noddies sometimes bred at intervals of much less than a year, and that breeding occurs in different months in different years; however, the interval between the start of breeding in 1958 and 1959 was almost a year, and i, t is suggested that this was unusual, and a result of the food shortage late in 1958. The moult of the noddies was studied in detail; it was found that individuals were either involved in breeding activities, or were in process of moult, almost all the time, while a few birds started breeding well before they had finished their moult. The discussion concerns the reason for the rough synchrony in breeding among the Black Noddies on Ascension, and the relation between breeding and moult cycles in the population.
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