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A question about skuas (1 Viewer)
- Thread starter teamsaint
- Start date
Farnboro John
Well-known member
If I remember rightly in Arctics there is an effect on tolerance of other skuas so dark phase birds nest closer to each other than light (or the other way round, it was a long time ago), leading to different densities in colonies. Overall the proportion changes North to South in range because of greater prey availability in richer habitats.
No doubt I have the details wrong.
John
I seem to remember reading somewhere that there's a tendency among Arctic Skuas to pair with the "other" morph, i.e. darks pair up with lights, etc. I'm not sure if I've got this right, or if it's in any way accurate, but congratulations on bringing it up, I'd love to see an answer from experts!
Hotspur
James Spencer
Would that not lead to higher numbers of intermediate morph birds (an ssumption taken from the fact intermediates occur)?
Farnboro John
Well-known member
Not if one or the other character is dominant. The occurrence of intemediates suggests incomplete dominance i.e control is by more than one gene, giving a complex mathematical solution.
John
Nice one, Tom. Enjoy Orkney, and tell us what you find about the Skuas!:t:
