Moult of Remiges and Rectrices of the White-Cheeked Starling Assessed from Shed Feathers Collected from a Communal Roost

Abstract

. To study the moult of remiges and rectrices of the White-cheeked Starling Spodiopsar cineraceus , we collected 10,292 of these feathers at their communal roost in Kindai University Higashiosaka Campus, Higashiosaka City, Osaka Prefecture, central Japan, between 2008 and 2009. Feathers were identified as primaries （ P1 to P10 ） , secondaries （ S1 to S6 ） , tertials （ Te1 to Te3 ） and rectrices （ R1 to R6 ） , and as adult feathers or juvenile ones. The birds had begun moulting before we started sampling in 2008, while we ceased sampling before they completed moulting in 2009, as they were driven away from the roost. We collected their feathers between early June and the end of September, while they used the roost from late May through November. They started moulting from the innermost primary （ P1 ） to outer ones, from the outermost secondary （ S1 ） to the inner ones, and from the center tertials （ Te2 ） to the inner （ Te3 ） and then the outer ones （ Te1 ） . As rectrices were replaced from the central （ R1 ） but within a short period of time, the sequence of moult of rectrices was unclear. The moult sequences were the same for adult feathers and juvenile ones. Juvenile primary feathers were collected later in the season than adult ones. The inner primaries of adults, and the inner secondaries of both adult and juveniles, were relatively scarce. These observations indicate that adults shed their inner primaries before they formed the summer roost, and they suspend-ed the moulting of the inner secondaries in September, presumably because of pair formation in autumn. The collection of shed feathers under the roosting area could be simple and useful technique to study moult.