Inter-colony movements, at-sea behaviour and foraging in an immature seabird: results from GPS-PPT tracking, radio-tracking and stable isotope analysis

By S. Votier, W. J. Grecian, S. Patrick, J. Newton. 2011

153 citations recorded by the source corpus.

Seabird populations contain large numbers of immatures––in some instances comprising >50% of the fully grown adults in the population. These birds are significant components of marine food webs and may contribute to compensatory recruitment and dispersal, but remain severely understudied. Here, we use GPS-PTTs, radio-tracking and analysis of stable carbon (δ13C) and nitrogen (δ15N) isotopes to investigate the movements and foraging ecology of immature seabirds. Our study focussed on immature northern gannets Morus bassanus aged 2–4 attending non-breeding aggregations alongside a large breeding colony. GPS-PTT tracking of five birds revealed that immatures have the ability to disperse widely during the breeding season, with some individuals potentially prospecting at other colonies. Overall, however, immatures were faithful to the colony of capture. During returns to the focal colony, immatures acted as central place foragers, conducted looping and commuting flights, and analysis of the variance in first-passage time revealed evidence of area-restricted search (ARS) behaviour. In addition, stable carbon (δ13C) and nitrogen (δ15N) isotope analyses indicate that immatures were isotopically segregated from breeders. Our findings provide insights into the foraging, prospecting and dispersal behaviour of immature seabirds, which may have important implications for understanding seabird ecology and conservation.

Subfields: Ecology

View Paper: https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/7d89b5fe9e53bf34b0b6b7e7843d52ffa7817c34

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In Ecology

1. R. Phillips
2. S. Bearhop
3. Bj Godley
4. J. Newton
5. AC Broderick
6. G. Hays
7. S. Votier
8. Richard Inger

Citations in the corpus

• Causes and consequences of individual variability and specialization in foraging and migration strategies of seabirds (2017, background): “Older immatures may also associate with colo - nies and operate as central-place foragers, al though trip structure, trip duration and resource use differ from those of breeding adults (Votier et al. 2011, Riotte-Lambert & Weimerskirch 2013, Campioni et al. 2015).”
• How many seabirds do we need to track to define home-range area? (2013, background): “This also applies to studies comparing the foraging behaviour of individuals or between sexes or age classes (Weimerskirch et al. 2009; Quintana et al. 2011; Votier et al. 2011).”
• Ontogeny in marine tagging and tracking science: technologies and data gaps (2012, methodology): “Using a combination of GPS, radio-tracking and stable 230 Hazen et al.: Ontogeny and data gaps in biologging isotopes, Votier et al. (2011) found that northern gannets M. bassanus undertake long migrations where they potentially visit non-natal breeding sites.”
• Global analysis of satellite tracking data shows that adult green turtles are significantly aggregated in Marine Protected Areas (2012, background): “…tracking efforts for other candidate species such as marine mammals (Andrews et al., 2008; Edrén et al., 2010), seabirds (Boersma et al., 2007; Votier et al., 2011), sharks (Schmidt et al., 2009; Brunnschweiler et al., 2010), and other large pelagic fish (Block et al., 2003; Dewer et al.,…”
• Elevated levels of ingested plastic in a high Arctic seabird, the northern fulmar (Fulmarus glacialis) (2015, background): “Although foraging distance of fulmars can be large (Edwards et al. 2013), it may be that the individuals sampled were exhibiting central-place foraging, as found in immature birds following the breeding period in other species (Votier et al. 2010; Riotte-Lambert and Weimerskirch 2013).”
• Potential consequences of discard reform for seabird communities (2013, unknown): “Seabird populations typically contain large numbers of sexually immature individuals that rarely visit breeding colonies and these birds’ cryptic lifestyles mean they are poorly studied (Votier et al. 2011).”
• Sex-specific foraging behaviour in northern gannets Morus bassanus: incidence and implications (2012, background): “Immature gannets travel much more widely than breeders during the summer (Votier et al. 2011), and are likely to feed in waters with a wider range of baseline isotope signatures.”
• Confusion reigns? A review of marine megafauna interactions with tidal-stream environments (2015, background): “…for juvenile animals to successfully acquire appropriate foraging skills (Burger 1980, Greig et al. 1983, Guinet & Bouvier 1995, Daunt et al. 2007, Votier et al. 2011), and animals may benefit by concentrating their foraging activity in areas where resources are predictably abundant or…”