Satellite tracking of Ross's Gull Rhodostethia rosea in the Arctic Ocean

Ross's Gull is one of the most emblematic Arctic birds and least known seabirds in the world; post-breeding movements and the use of sea-ice habitats have been long debated, but described only from scattered observations. We tracked two adults, a male and female, breeding in the Kolyma Delta, Russia, using the lightest (< 5 g) satellite transmitters currently available: the transmitters provided data for 44 and 132 days for the female and male, respectively. After departing from the breeding area and reaching the nearby Laptev Sea at the beginning of July, both birds moved NW, and the male staged until the end of September in an area of scattered sea-ice (concentration 50-100 %), NE of Severnaya Zemlya archipelago, between 80 and 85A degrees N. By mid-October, most likely escaping the polar night, this bird reached the coast of NW Alaska, and a few days later it arrived in the coastal wetlands of North Chukotka, where it remained until the transmitter stopped in early November.