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Abstract

The Short-tailed Shearwater, Puffinus tenuirostris, is a trans-equatorial migrant, breeding in Tasmania and other parts of southeastern Australia
during the Austral summer and migrating to the northern North Pacific for the Boreal summer. Juveniles, in particular, suffer considerable
mortality during the migration. Body composition of juveniles and adults in terms of body mass, lipid content, pectoral muscle mass and
bone marrow content, before and after migration was investigated. Juveniles varied greatly in body composition pre- and post-migration
and took longer to recover their nutritional status than adults. Adults sustained a better body composition, showing a moderate decrease
in body fat upon arrival in the north and recovering their body mass and lipid supply during their stay. The lipid content of beachcast
bird carcasses (mean, 4 g) was the minimum necessary for cell membranes and was not metabolisable for energy. Pectoral muscle protein
remained high among birds under hyper-nutritional conditions, and decreased gradually at first as lipids decreased, and then rapidly at
late malnutritional stages when most lipids had been utilised for energy. Although adults sustained their nutritional status, the amount of
lipids in adults leaving the Tasmanian colony was insufficient to accomplish the long-distance migration, so post-breeding adults probably
first visited Antarctic waters to accumulate fat reserves before commencing their northward migration.

Item Type:	Article
Authors/Creators:	Oka, N
Keywords:	Royal Society of Tasmania, RST, Van Diemens Land, natural history, science, ecology, taxonomy, botany, zoology, geology, geography, papers & proceedings, Australia, UTAS Library
Journal or Publication Title:	Papers and Proceedings of the Royal Society of Tasmania
ISSN:	0080-4703
DOI / ID Number:	https://doi.org/10.26749/rstpp.142.1.197
Collections:	Royal Society Collection > Papers & Proceedings of the Royal Society of Tasmania
Additional Information:	Copyright Royal Society of Tasmania
Item Statistics:	View statistics for this item

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