Abstract
South polar skuas (Catharacta maccormicki) (further SPS) gravitate toward human activities in the Antarctic. They form active obliged aggregations (further AOA) in places of utilization of kitchen waste and enter into numerous aggressive interactions among themselves. Objective: to establish the possible role of the AOA obtaining leg injuries by SPS and the influence of human activity in this process. The investigations were carried out at the Russian Antarctic station Mirny (66˚33'11" S, 93˚00'35" E, Haswell archipelago, Davis Sea, East Antarctica). 13.01-30.03.2015-26.10.2015-11.01.2016 the feeding behavior of skuas was recorded in the video mode on camera Sony Cyber-shot DSC-WX220 Black. The total length of the analyzed video is 2308 minutes 40 seconds. Out of the 97 SPS captured and examined, 33 individuals (34%) had 54 cases of web injuries — 35 (64.81%) cuts and 19 (35.19%) punctures. Among 1374 aggressive contacts between skuas, evidence of damage to the webs on their feet in the analyzed sample was not registered and the probability of damage to the membranes was less than 0.2% at CI = 95%, that is, it was close to "0". This number was not extrapolated to the whole life cycle of the SPS. The difficulty of extrapolation lies in the absence of the quantitative data on the total number of aggressive interactions of SPS in its annual cycle and the changes to this number in the course of the whole life cycle of an individual. There is also no opportunity obtain the data on the aggressive behavior of the skua around the natural food sources to compare with that around the anthropogenic food sources. The aforementioned factors were conducive only to partial goal achievement.
Highlights
Wildlife living in proximity to stations may become disturbed by interactions with humans while others have developed some habituation [1]
In aggressive interactions, a competing individual receives many blows from an opponent and some of them transform into bruises, hematomas, abrasions or superficial wounds hiding under the skin or feather cover of the bird and are very difficult to diagnose
Handling of the caught in Mirny SPS and directed observation of them inside the Haswell archipelago revealed the following types of injuries, which according to severity are classified as: light mechanical damage; moderate damage; hard injuries
Summary
Wildlife living in proximity to stations may become disturbed by interactions with humans while others have developed some habituation [1]. South polar skuas (Catharacta maccormicki) (hereinafter SPS) well-adapted to the extreme Antarctic environment and breed around Antarctica [2, 3] They are one of the few marine species of birds that tend to human activity in the region, and their total number in places of contact with humans can reach several hundred individuals [4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12,13]. Throughout their life history, they enter into numerous antagonistic interactions with conspecific individuals or individuals of other species of seabirds. The relatively low or low success rate of breeding in its different breeding areas [25] is offset by the high survival rate of the Golubev Sergey Vladimirovich: Injuries of Webs on the Feet of South Polar Skuas Catharacta Maccormicki: Results of Studying Active Obliged Aggregations skuas with breeding experience, as well as the oldest birds, and is one of the highest among other bird species [26, 27]
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