Adelie penguin (Pygoscelis adeliae) and McCormick skua (Catharacta mccormicki) census of the Cape Bird colony 1974 - 1978

Occupied nests were counted with the same technique. Initial maps of the three main colonies were drawn from aerial photographs taken in the late 1960's. Copies of original maps were examined in the field and amendments were made to document changes in the colonies over the years and to update the information for future colony counts.

Any penguin or McCormicks skua with bands were read while making the annual colonies count (penguin) or search for during the evenings (skua). The nest sites of skuas were mapped and band numbers of skuas using the nests were recorded in some years. A census of the penguin colonies at Cape Royds was conduction in 1959, 1975, 1977, 1979-1988 using the same methods.