Not only penguins: the polar explorers showed who else was born near “Vernadskyi”. PHOTO
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The polar explorers showed the cubs of Dominican martins and arctic terns, which were born on a nearby island in Antarctica.
The spring-summer season is now underway on the polar continent – the breeding season for most local birds, the National Antarctic Science Center added.
The cubs were found during a survey of the rocks near the island of Grotto – it is located a little north of Galindez, where the Vernadskyi station is based.
Biologist Serhii Glotov found a nest of martins on the rocks.
| Photo: Serhiy Glotov |
“This is typical for martins: they can nest both in colonies and in individual pairs. They usually lay 2-3 eggs.
Babies are born one after the other, have thick gray-brown fluff, with a yellow tint on the chest and dark spots on the head.”the Antarctic Center said.
Polar scientists noticed that the baby spends the first days in the nest, and then leaves it. But all the children stick together and hide from danger among the stones.
“They grow quite quickly and within a month they almost reach the size of their parents“, the scientists added.
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| Martynyatko near “Vernadskyi” |
More than 70 nests of Antarctic terns were found on the rocks of the island – half of them already have chicks.
Biologist Serhiy Glotov notes that they are quite tiny, and the eggs of these birds are the size of a walnut.
“A pair of terns has 1-2 eggs. Like martins, these babies are born one after the other, at first they are in the nest, and then they master the territory around it“, the researcher explains.
Newborn chicks have a variegated coloration: brown and black spots of various shapes are densely scattered over the beige-gray down, which are often combined into an interesting ornament.
Polar scientists noticed that young birds usually have a dark beak, and adult birds have a bright red beak.
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| Antarctic terns |
Scientists in Antarctica added that a more thorough survey of the islands of the ice continent helps to create a map of nests to track the dynamics of the distribution and reproduction of Antarctic birds in the context of climate change.
It will be recalled that polar explorers recently showed an iceberg-swing for birds.
Read also: Polar scientists showed an “unusual guest” near the Akademik Vernadskyi station. VIDEO
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