Part I: Seals teeth and whales ears - Scott Polar Research Institute ...

Chapter 13
The Signy Island Birds, 1948-50
T
he birds gave us endless pleasure, particularly the penguins, represented by
three breeding species - the Adélie, Pygoscelis adelieae, the ringed (or chinstrap),
Pygoscelis antarctica, and gentoo, Pygoscelis papua, the macaroni penguin,
Eudyptes chrysolophus. An emperor penguin, [ ] was a rare visitor. Owing to the
likely of confusion of the name ringed penguin with the activity of ringing penguins,
Bill Sladen later suggested re-naming the species ‘chin-strap’ penguin after its most
distinctive feature. Petrels were abundant and there were several species, which bred
on our island. These included the ungainly giant petrel, Macronectes giganteus, the
lovely snow petrel, Pagodroma nivea, which appears snow-white except for black bill
and eye, mauve legs and Cape pigeons, Daption capense, which have a chequered
pattern. These were the three species most often seen. The Antarctic prions or whale
birds, Pachyptila desolata, are so called because they have a food filtering mechanism
at the edge of their bills, analogous to the whalebone of whales. The storm-petrels
were represented by the diminutive Wilson's storm petrel Oceanites oceanicus, and
occasionally we saw the black-bellied storm petrel, Fregatta tropica. The burrowing
prion and the storm petrels, came to their nests only at night and so were less often
or easily seen. Other petrels occurred from time to time as visitors.
Gulls were represented by the Dominican gull, Larus dominicanus, which looks
superficially like the lesser black-backed gull of English coasts, and the Sub-Antarctic
skua which takes the place of hawks in England and feeds on several of the other
species. Both of these, though not abundant, like penguins or petrels, were quite
conspicuous. (Many years later – from 1978-79 - the Antarctic skua was also recorded
breeding on Signy.)
A cormorant or shag species, the blue-eyed shag, Phalacrocorax atriceps, is a
beautiful bird with a bright cobalt blue area of skin around the eye. It nested in
relatively small numbers at two colonies, one near North Point and the other at
Shagnasty Islet on the South coast.
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