[Spatial Genetic Structure of the Crested Auklet (Aethia cristatella Pallas, 1769) Colony as Inferred from Data on the Mitochondrial DNA Control Region and Microsatellite Loci].

The effect of philopatry on the formation of the intrapopulation structure in the crested auklet colony of the Talan Island, Taui Bay of the Sea of Okhotsk, was examined. The nucleotide sequences of the mitochondrial DNA control region fragment (408 bp) and five microsatellite loci (Apy03, Apy04, Apy06, Apy07, Apy10) in individuals from two study plots of the colony were examined. A high genetic diversity (h = 0.999 ± 0.003) and the absence of intrapopulation genetic differentiation was observed at both types of markers. Thus, despite the high level of nest-area fidelity in breeding adults, no genetic isolation was revealed for crested auklets from different parts of the Talan Island colony.

[Breeding biology of the whiskered auklet (Aethia pygmaea): postnesting period]. / [Biologiia razmnozheniia maloi koniugi (Aethia pygmaea): postgnezdovoi period]

This is the third paper on the breeding biology of the whiskered auklet on Buldir Island (Aleutian Islands) based on material collected in 1993. Unlike other alcid birds, both adult and young whiskered auklets returned to the colony the night after the end of the breeding season. From the end of July until the third ten-day period of August, the number of adult birds that returned to the island was at approximately the same level, and then decreased, while the number of young birds that returned to the islands markedly varied, and peaks were noted every 5-8 nights. Adult birds continued to visit all the nest habitats, but not all nest chambers were visited equally frequently. In the first and third ten-day periods of August, the auklets visited 61% and 19.8% of the nest chambers, respectively. It remains unclear whether they were their hosts, or other birds used their nests for the next year. The return of adult and young birds to the colony to sleep after the breeding season appears to be related to the settled mode of life of the whiskered auklet and its feeding near the islands in water perturbations caused by tidal currents.

[Breeding biology of the whiskered auklet (Aethia pygmaea): incubation, chick growth, and feather ontogenesis]. / Biologiia razmnozheniia maloi koniugi (Aethia pygmaea): inkubatsiia, razvitie ptentsov i ontogenez per'evogo pokrova.

This is the second publication on the results of studies of the whiskered auklet breeding biology on Buldir Island. In 1993, according to the time of chick hatching the egg-laying period began in late April-early May. The single egg was incubated by both parents, which relieved each other once a day, usually at early night. Among the chicks under observation, the first hatched on June 11; the median of hatching was on June 17. After hatching, the egg shell usually remained in the nest. The chick was continuously brooded by one of parents for the first several days but since the age of 7-9 days, it stayed in the nest by itself during the daytime. Each parent fed the chick once a day, at early night, although occasional feedings were recorded also during daytime and at dawn. A newly hatched chick was covered by typical embryonal (natal) down. The remiges, rectrices, their coverts, and large feathers on pteryla humeralis had a mesoptile stage during their growth (the second down generation). The juvenile plumage consisted of semiplumes of types I and II and contour feathers of type I and, possibly, type II. In fledglings, the ornamental feathers were underdeveloped: the crest was absent and facial plumes only began growing. By reaching 100 g, the chicks left their nests at the age of about 37 days. A longer nesting period than in other Aethia auklets appears to be related to a low feeding rate due to the nocturnal activity in the colony.