摘要
We analyze morphometrics from a sample of 276 White-winged Black Tern(Chlidonias leucopterus) caught in north-west Australia on 4 March 2011. An estimated 40000 terns were present — the largest concentration of this species yet reported from Australia. When comparing juveniles with adults, only wing length and body mass differed significantly; however, juveniles were still easily recognized by plumage and wing molt as late as March. There was little evidence of any dramatic weight gain in adults before their northward migration. No morphological characteristic distinguishing sex was found. We confirmed that terns caught in this study did not appear to differ morphologically from those of the western palearctic populations. We describe wing molt based on data from 354 individuals captured and banded in Australia over 28 years. Wing molt proceeds in much the same way as found in other small terns.
我们对2011年3月4日在澳大利亚西北部捕捉的276只白翅浮鸥(Chlidonias leucopterus)进行了形态特征测定。该地区白翅浮鸥估计有40000只,是澳大利亚目前已知最大的白翅浮鸥集中分布地。白翅浮鸥的亚成体与成体仅在翅长和体重上有显著差异,但仍易于从羽饰和换羽时间上识别出亚成体,因为其换羽期往往迟至(每年)3月。几乎没有证据显示成鸟北迁之前体重明显增加,也未发现易于区分性别的形态特征。我们的结果表明这些捕获的白翅浮鸥在形态上与其西古北区种群间没有差异。基于28年来在澳大利亚捕获并环志的354只白翅浮鸥的数据,我们描述了其翅羽的换羽过程。翅羽更换进程与其他小型燕鸥基本一致。
