Branta Issues > Issue №1 (1998)

Biometrics of Sand Martin in the South of Ukraine

Chemichko R.N.

1711 Sand Martins were caught and measured in 1978-1992 to analyse the species biometrics and mass. The catching took place in the South of Ukraine (the Odessa, Mykolaiv, Zhaporizhzhia regions). Wing-length (La), tail-length (Lc) and body mass (Mas) were measured. There is not a lot of information of Sand Martin biometrics in the literature. However, often average and min-max values are given only, sometimes even without reference to the sample size (Table l).

In this paper we discuss variations of biometrics and mass in relation to sex and age, their yearly dynamics and differences between target colonies.

No significant difference was found ЬеЫ’ееп the wing-length of males and females, whereas females had a longer tail (t=5.4, p<0.05) and were remarkably heavier (t=10.8, p<0.05). Variations in biometrics of adults from one colony were not significant. Only mass of females was higher (t=4.4, p<0.05). At the time of leaving the nest all the measurements ofjuveniles differed significantly from those of adults: La t=10.7, Lc t=9.7, Mas t=22.2; p<0.05. Significant variations in body mass were proved for 7 colonies of Sand Martin, that to our opinion indicates that there were large differences in food supply between the breeding sites. There was no correlation between the colony size and average mass of birds in the colony. Annual variations of biometrics of adults in Ukraine (1978, n=140; 1985, n=110; 1987, n=306; 1988, n=205) appeared to be significant only for the length of

tail and mass. It is not quite clear what are the causes of such differences. The data collected allow to characterise variability of the species biometrics as rather low.