Timing of moult and breeding in the Cape White-eye, Zosterops pallidus, from three different geographical regions in South Africa
P. E. Hulley A , A. J. F. K. Craig A E , G. D. Underhill B , B. T. Bonnevie C , R. J. Nuttall D and D. H. de Swardt DA Department of Zooology & Entomology, Rhodes University, Grahamstown, 6140 South Africa.
B Deceased
C Department of Information Technology, Rhodes University, Grahamstown, 6140 South Africa.
D Department of Ornithology, National Museum, Bloemfontein, 9300 South Africa.
E Corresponding author. Email: A.Craig@ru.ac.za
Emu 104(4) 353-358 https://doi.org/10.1071/MU03055
Submitted: 3 November 2003 Accepted: 4 October 2004 Published: 16 December 2004
Abstract
Cape White-eyes are widespread in South Africa, occurring in different climatic regions. We analysed primary moult data for large samples of this species from three geographical regions. There were no apparent long-term changes in duration or timing of moult during the nine years that the Western Cape results were collected, but sites within this region had different mean starting dates for primary moult. The Eastern Cape and Free State birds began moult about a month later than those in the Western Cape. This correlated well with the earlier breeding season in the Western Cape, and there was no evidence of overlap between moult and breeding. Mean primary moult duration was not significantly different among the sites or regions, and may be a species-specific trait. There was no evidence of regular long-distance movements in this species.
Acknowledgments
We wish to thank L. G. Underhill for making his late father’s ringing data available to us, and for providing a copy of his moult analysis program. The South African Weather Bureau provided weather data. This work was funded by a Joint Research Council grant from Rhodes University, and by research funds from the National Museum, Bloemfontein. ArcView software was donated by GIMS. We also wish to thank two anonymous reviewers for their valuable comments on an earlier version of the manuscript. A preliminary report was presented as a poster at the IOC in Beijing in August 2002.
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