In the Antarctic, the bird
baby boom. The Ukrainian National Antarctic Center told about the penguins born near the
Vernadsky" scientific station, the Ukrainian National Antarctic Center reported.
The Antarctic is in the midst of the spring and summer season, a period of
breeding season for most of the local birds, not just penguins. For example, the other day
while examining the rocks near the island of Grothto (it is slightly north of our
Galindez), Ukrainian polar explorers found baby Dominican gulls and
and Arctic terns.
Details
On the rocks near the island of Grotto biologist
28th UAE biologist Serhiy Glotov has so far found one nest of the Dominican gull. Scientists have noted that gulls are birds that
nest both in colonies and in individual pairs. They usually lay 2-3 eggs each.
eggs.
It is interesting that the babies of these birds are born
one by one. They immediately have thick gray-brown fluff, with a yellow tint
on the chest and dark spots on the head.
![Image](/img/2023/12/31/1704050564-4141-large.webp)
The chicks spend the first days in the nest,
and then leave it, but stay close by, hiding among the stones in case of danger.
stones in case of danger.
These kids will grow up quite quickly. In
month, they will grow almost to the size of their parents.
![Image](/img/2023/12/31/1704050546-3600-large.webp)
As for the nests of Antarctic terns, there are
there are currently about 70 of them on the rocks, and half of them already have chicks.
Serhiy Glotov notes that they are quite
tiny, and the eggs of these birds are the size of walnuts. A pair of terns already has 1-2
eggs each.
![Image](/img/2023/12/31/1704050583-4579-large.webp)
Like baby marmosets, these babies are born
take turns, first staying in the nest and then exploring the area around it.
the area around it.
Newborn chicks have bright, colorful plumage.
plumage. The beige-gray down is densely
scattered with brown and black spots of various shapes, forming an interesting ornament.
Scientists note that the age of
of Antarctic terns is easily determined by the color of their beaks. In chicks, it is dark,
and in adult birds it is bright red.
![Image](/img/2023/12/31/1704050599-3841-large.webp)
The nesting sites of both bird species are currently being mapped by
Ukrainian biologists are currently recording and mapping them. In order to further track the dynamics of
distribution and reproduction of Antarctic birds. These observations help
scientists to study climate change, which is very noticeable in this region.
Over the past few years, Vernadsky alone has recorded a number of
years, a number of records related to warming have been recorded. We mentioned the temperature record of +12.7°C in February last year and explained why it was set.
record of +12.7°C in February last year and explained what it was about.
![Image](/img/2023/12/31/1704050627-1731-large.webp)
Recall
Earlier, UNN wrote about the penguin
baby boom in the Antarctic. This year, a record number of
a record number of sub-Antarctic penguins are nesting here - more than 5.3 thousand.
estimates of the biologist of the 28th UAE Vadym Tkachenko, there are about 4.8 thousand eggs in the nests.