Fróðskaparrit - 01.01.2004, Page 270

268 RECOVERIES OF GANNETS (MORUS BASSANUS) RINGED IN THE FAROE ISLANDS
Fig. 4. Mean distance
between rínging and
recovery locations
against age of Gannets
(age groups 3yr and I4yr
are not included).
The distance travelled is calculated as
a straight line from the place of ringing to
place of recovery. This does not represent
the real travelling strategy of the Gannets,
since they prefer to fly along the coastline.
This means, that the actual distance trav-
elled by birds, recovered in the Mediterra-
nean Sea, is much longer than stated by the
data set. However, this does not alter the
overall picture, that birds recovered dur-
ing winter are found farther away from the
ringing location than birds recovered during
summer, since only 3 birds were recovered
in the Mediterranean Sea, and all 3 were
recovered during the autumn and winter.
Work done by Nelson (1978), Barret
(1988) and Zonfrillo (1997) showed that
the younger Gannets migrated longer away
from the breeding colony than the older
ones.
Figs. 3 and 4 might seem to show such
a trend for the Faroese Gannets, but this is
not supported statistically (ANOVA: P =
0.655).
The fact that there were 18 Gannets in
age groups lyr and 2yr, while there were
only 6 Gannets in age groups 6yr or old-
er, probably gives data biased towards the
younger birds. This, of course, affects the
validity of the statistical tests, and could
explain e.g. why no statistical differences
were found in mean distance between ring-
ing and recovery locations, and age of the
Gannets.
Conclusion
Although the recovery data of Faroese Gan-
nets are limited, they seem to indicate that
the migratory and dispersal patterns of the
Faroese Gannets is the same, or very simi-
lar to, that of Gannets from other Northern
European countries, like Great Britain and
Norway.
However, the Faroese data do not support
the notion that younger Gannets migrate
farther away from the breeding colony than
the older ones.
More recovery data are needed in order