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The Wilson Journal of Ornithology
120(3):613–617, 2008
White-winged Diuca Finch (
 Diuca speculifera
) Nesting onQuelccaya Ice Cap, Peru´
Douglas R. Hardy
1,3
and Spencer P. Hardy
2
ABSTRACT.—We found evidence of birds nestingdirectly on glacier ice of the Quelccaya Ice Cap in theCordillera Vilcanota, Peru´ at elevations up to 5,300 m.Observations during June and July over several yearsconsisted of numerous nests not
in situ
having obvi-ously fallen from the steep and dynamic, retreatingglacier margin. A typical nest was a bulky structure of grass and twigs with a dry mass of 160 g. The innercup was nicely formed and lined with fine grass, mea-suring 6–7 cm in diameter and 4–5 cm deep. Feathersand entire wings of White-winged Diuca Finch (
 Diucaspeculifera
) were observed in association with thenests; this was the passerine species most commonlyseen in the area. The evidence indicates the glaciernests were built and used by White-winged DiucaFinch, probably during the Austral autumn when on-site automated measurements indicate the wet seasonends and air temperatures have not yet decreased. Thisis the first well-documented case of high-elevation avi-an nesting on glacier ice.
Received 30 November 2006. Accepted 26 December 2007.
Some birds are well adapted to environmentswhich are seasonally dominated by snow or seaice, but birds are not generally associated with
1
Climate System Research Center, Geosciences De-partment, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, MA01003, USA.
2
Marion W. Cross School, Norwich, VT 05055,USA.
3
Corresponding author;e-mail: dhardy@geo.umass.edu
glaciers. Only the Emperor Penguin (
 Aptenod- ytes forsteri
) is known to routinely nest on ice,typically frozen sea-ice (i.e., fast-ice) but attimes in association with ice shelves derivedfrom glaciers (Kooyman 1993). Transient birdshave been observed passing over mountain gla-ciers at high elevations outside the polar regionsor discovered after succumbing to harsh envi-ronmental conditions (Krajick 2002; L. G.Thompson, pers. comm.). However, glacier sur-faces are usually cold, actively changingthrough accumulation and ablation, and at timeswet; conditions that are poorly suited for nestingand raising young birds.The ornithological literature contains onlyone detailed account of nesting on a glacier.This was the unusual circumstance where gla-ciers advancing into Alaska’s Prince WilliamSound overran a Black-legged Kittiwake (
 Ris-sa tridactyla
) colony (Irons 1988). Previously-used nest sites were unavailable and 77 kitti-wake nests were constructed on the glacierface. All of these nests failed due to ablationand/or meltwater runoff which either dis-lodged the nests or caused them to disintegrate(Irons 1988; D. B. Irons, pers. comm.).The objective of this paper is to present ev-idence of nesting by White-winged DiucaFinch (
 Diuca speculifera
) directly on glacierice of the Quelccaya Ice Cap in Cuzco De-
 
614
THE WILSON JOURNAL OF ORNITHOLOGY
•
Vol. 120, No. 3, September 2008
FIG. 1. (A) White-winged Diuca Finch on Quelccaya Ice Cap at
5,200 m on 23 June 2007, (B) the sameglacier in June 2005 with arrow indicating the approximate location of the first nest observation in 2005 andthe nest described in text. Circled area of margin just above the proglacial lake is enlarged in (C) looking underthe ice. The circle on (C) encloses a nest which is likely
in situ
, 3 m above rock surface with enlarged view in(D); note silt from meltwater runoff.
partment, Peru´ (14
S, 71
W). Observationswere made over several years during the Aus-tral winter (Jun–Jul) in the course of con-ducting glacier and climate research on the icecap. This is the first well-documented case of high-elevation avian nesting on a glacier, cor-roborating a second-hand report of ‘‘ice cave’’nesting by White-winged Diuca Finch (John-son 1967).OBSERVATIONSDuring June 2005, while exploring the re-treating Quelccaya Ice Cap margin, we cameupon a nest which appeared to have fallen re-cently from the glacier (within weeks-months). Several other older nests were ob-served nearby including one in a cave underthe ice margin (Fig. 1). More extensive nestsearches were conducted in 2006 and 2007along
1,500 m of glacier margin, resultingin location of numerous nests. Most werealong two sections with respective lengths of 350 and 530 m, elevation ranges of 50 and100 m, and upper elevations of 5,200 and5,300 m. Searches were restricted to this1,500 m section; the extent to which this isrepresentative of the Quelccaya Ice Cap is un-known. However, nesting on the ice cap haslikely not been limited to the last 3 years asL. G. Thompson has occasionally observednests over the past
30 years (pers. comm.).Nest remains were most often found onrocks at the base of near-vertical sections of ice margin. At least 14 nests were found in2006 and at least 16 in 2007. These varied inapparent age from weeks (i.e., previous breed-ing season) to several years and the 2007count almost certainly includes some foundthe previous year. Two of the freshest nests in2006 were only 3 m apart.Typically, sections of glacier margin withnest remains were nearly vertical, somewhatgrooved or fluted, and
5–10 m high. Over-hanging icicles and steeply-sloping rock be-low the margin made access to some nest re-mains difficult, and nests still attached to theglacier could have been overlooked. One nestwas found on the glacier 22 m from the mar-
 
615
SHORT COMMUNICATIONSFIG. 2. (A) Dislodged nest along Quelccaya Ice Cap margin found on 15 July 2006 in inverted positionwithin 1 m of vertical ice wall at 5,190 m. The nest was not present the previous year (26 Jun 2005), althougha different residual nest was found
10 m distant. The dark bar on the field book cover is 1.25
9.5 cm. (B)Another dislodged nest in position found, 23 Jun 2007 at 5,230 m; note feathers and 13-cm pen for scale.
gin, below a steep, step-like section of ice(i.e., not
in situ
).Some nests were entirely intact whenfound, while others were disintegrating or par-tially buried by sediment; however, almost allnests were not
in situ
(cf. Fig. 1D). Net retreatof the ice margin is roughly 1 m/year or morealong this part of the Quelccaya Ice Cap andnests constructed on the steeply-sloping mar-gin could only be observed
in situ
within abrief interval following construction (i.e.,breeding season) prior to falling. Evidence forthis interpretation is that several nests werefound in inverted position and, in almost ev-ery case, a vertical trace of nest material wasobserved above the nest remains, frozen to theice.Remains of varying ages indicate multi-yearoccupation of favorable sites along the ice mar-gin suggesting that reproductive efforts on theice cap are successful. In addition, we observedfecal sacs in one of the fresh nests, presumablyfrom nestlings just prior to fledging. No off-gla-cier nesting evidence was found despite search-ing areas adjacent to the glacier.Several nests appeared entirely intact andthe following is based upon one of the fresh-est-appearing nests observed in 2006. Nestswere bulky structures of grass and twigs witha deep, well-made inner cup (Fig. 2). It ap-pears that a rough platform is initially con-structed (32
18 cm), which roughly tapersupward and becomes increasingly well-woventowards the top (13 cm outer diameter). Onlythis better-woven upper portion was found insome cases. The inner cup measured
6.5 cmin diameter and was 4.6 cm deep. Overall drymass of the nest (Fig. 2A) was 160 g. Nestsconsisted of woven grass (
80–90%), partic-ularly the locally abundant
Calamagrostischrysantha
. The inner cup was lined with finergrass and feathers were observed in or adja-cent to some nest remains (Fig. 2B). Analysisby Carla Dove at the Smithsonian Institutionrevealed feathers of Rufous-bellied Seedsnipe(
 Attagis gayi
), Andean Goose (
Chloephagamelanoptera
), and tail feathers of White-winged Diuca Finch. This diverse assemblagesuggests that nests are lined with feathers re-covered from the surrounding landscape. Noevidence of camelid fleece was seen in anynest (cf. Johnson 1967).DISCUSSIONAlthough indirect, all evidence indicates thatQuelccaya glacier nests were built and used byWhite-winged Diuca Finch. Little informationexists on nesting habits of this species from any-where in the Andes although Johnson (1967:368) reported that in the Parinacota area of 
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