Moult strategies in the Common Whitethroat Sylvia c. communis in northern Nigeria |
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| Authors: | Jonas Waldenströ m ,& Ulf Ottosson |
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| Affiliation: | Evolutionary Biology Centre, Department of Animal Ecology, Uppsala University, Norbyvägen 18D, SE-752 36 Uppsala, Sweden;Ottenby Bird Observatory, Pl 1500, SE-380 65 Degerhamn, Sweden, Corresponding address: Ottenby Bird Observatory, Pl 1500, SE-38065 Degerhamn, Sweden |
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| Abstract: | Moult strategies in the Common Whitethroat Sylvia c. communis trapped in northern Nigeria in April 1999 are analysed. Differences in the extent of moult between age and sex classes are presented. The secondary moult of adult birds is considered to belong to a new pre-breeding moult or an arrested moult, beginning at the normal starting positions on the wing, and not as a continuation of a suspended post-breeding moult. Eccentric moult of primaries was found in nearly 19% of the yearling birds, a pattern that is unusual for Western Palearctic passerines. Some individuals showed resemblance to the split moult pattern described for the Barred Warbler S. nisoria . |
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