Náttúrufræðingurinn - 1993, Qupperneq 42

ÞAKKIR
Fálkarannsóknirnar voru styrktar af Na-
tional Geographic Society, The Peregrine
Fund Inc., Vísindasjóði, The Andrew
Mellon Foundation, The E. Alexander
Bergstrom Memorial Research Fund og
The Arctic Institute of North America.
Náttúruverndarráð veitti aðstöðu í Rann-
sóknastöð við Mývatn. Sverrir Thorsten-
sen Stórutjarnaskóla, Hólmgrímur Kjart-
ansson Hrauni, Árni Gíslason Laxárbakka
og Ásgrímur Þórhallsson Hafralæk veittu
upplýsingar um rjúpur. Arnþór Garðars-
son og Jóhann Oli Hilmarsson lásu rit-
gerðina yfir í handriti og færðu margt til
betri vegar. Öllum þessurn aðilum þakka
ég góða hjálp.
HEIMILDIR
Arnþór Garðarsson 1971. Food ecology
and spacing behavior of Rock Ptarmigan
(Lagopus mutus) in Iceland. Pli.D.-rit-
gerð, University of California, Berkeley,
California. 380 bls.
Bente, P.J. 1981. Nesting behavior and
hunting activity of the Gyrfalcon, Falco
rusticolus in south central Alaska.
M.Sc.-ritgerð, University of Alaska,
Fairhanks, Alaska. 103 bls.
Finnur Guðmundsson 1960. Some reflec-
tions on Ptarmigan cycles in Iceland.
Proceedings of tlie Xllth International
Ornithological Congress. 259-265.
Jenkins, J.A. 1978. Gyrfalcon nesting be-
havior from hatching to fledgling. Auk
95. 122-127.
MacDonald, S.D. 1970. The breeding be-
havior of the Rock Ptarmigan. Living
Bird 9. 195-238.
Newton, I. 1979. Population ecology of
raptors. 7’ & AD Poyser, Berkhamsted.
399 bls.
Newton, 1. 1986. The Sparrowhawk. T &
AD Poyser, Berkhamsted. 396 bls.
Ólafur K. Nielsen 1986. Population ecol-
ogy of the Gyrfalcon in Iceland with
comparative notes on the Merlin and the
Raven. Ph.D.-ritgerð, Cornell Univer-
sity, Ithaca, New York. 215 bls.
Ólafur K. Nielsen, í undirbúningi. Rjúpna-
talningar á Norðausturlandi 1981-92.
Náttúrufrœðingurinn.
Ólafur K. Nielsen & T.J. Cade 1990a.
Annual cycle of the Gyrfalcon in Ice-
land. National Geographic Research 6.
41-62.
Ólafur K. Nielsen & T.J. Cade I990b. Sea-
sonal changes in food habits of Gyrfal-
cons in NE-Iceland. Ornis Scandinavica
21. 202-211.
Platt, J.B. 1977. The breeding behavior of
wild and captive Gyrfalcons in relation
to their environment and human distur-
bance. Ph.D.-ritgerð, Cornell Univer-
sity, New York. 164 bls.
Poole, K.G. 1987. Aspects of the ecology,
food habits and foraging characteristics
of Gyrfalcons in the central Canadian
arctic. M.Sc.-ritgerð, University of Al-
berta, Edmonton, Alberta. 120 bls.
Poole, K.G. & R.G. Bromley 1988. Natu-
ral history of the Gyrfalcon in the cen-
tral Canadian arctic. Arctic 41. 31-38.
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SUMMARY
Initiation of territoriality among
Icelandic Rock Ptarmigan
in spring
by
Ólafur K. Nielsen
The Wildlife Management Institute
Hlemmur 3, P.O. Box 5032
IS-125 REYKJAVÍK
Iceland
The main breeding grounds of the Ice-
landic Rock Ptarmigan (Lagopus mutus)
are the heathlands in NE-lceland. It has
been postulated that the arrival of the
Rock Ptarmigan on the heathlands in
spring marks the beginning of the
Gyrfalcon’s (Falco rusticolus) breedittg
season (Nielsen & Cade 1990a). The pur-
pose of this paper is to report the results
of ptarmigan observations made in winter
1983-1984 and 1984-1985 and spring
1984, 1985, 1987, 1988, 1990 and 1991 in
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