Thermal environments within Leach’s Storm-Petrel (Hydrobates leucorhous) burrows on Great Duck Island

Gnam, Eleanor

From the abstract: "Leach’s Storm-Petrels (Hydrobates leucorhous) are small, pelagic, burrow-nesting seabirds. Great Duck Island, located 13 kilometers south of Mount Desert Island, is the largest Leach’s Storm-Petrel colony in the continental United States. Burrows are typically dug in soil under cover objects such as fallen logs. One member of the nesting pair typically incubates the egg while the other feeds at sea. Incubation shifts can last for 2-5 days, and neglect periods where neither parent is present sometimes occur. I investigated whether temperature sensors could be used to track periods of egg neglect by deploying iButton temperature sensors in 18 Leach’s Storm-Petrel burrows over a period of 28 days. Temperature data did not reveal incubation shifts or neglect periods but still offered insight into the relatively stable thermal environment of the Leach’s Storm-Petrel burrow."