Active breeding seabirds prospect alternative breeding colonies

• Published in: Oecologia
• Main Authors: Kralj, Jelena, Ponchon, Aurore, Oro, Daniel, Amadesi, Barbara, Arizaga, Juan, Baccetti, Nicola, Boulinier, Thierry, Cecere, Jacopo G., Corcoran, Robin M., Corman, Anna-Marie, Enners, Leonie, Fleishman, Abram, Garthe, Stefan, Grémillet, David, Harding, Ann, Igual, José Manuel, Jurinović, Luka, Kubetzki, Ulrike, Lyons, Donald E, Orben, Rachael, Paredes, Rosana, Pirrello, Simone, Recorbet, Bernard, Shaffer, Scott A., Schwemmer, Philipp, Serra, Lorenzo, Spelt, Anouk, Tavecchia, Giacomo, Tengeres, Jill, Tome, Davorin, Williamson, Cara, Windsor, Shane, Young, Hillary, Zenatello, Marco, Fijn, Ruben
• Other Authors: French Polar Institute, French Agency for Marine Protected Areas, North Pacific Research Board, Istituto Superiore per la Protezione e la Ricerca Ambientale, Ministero della Transizione Ecologica, Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad (España), Ministerio de Ciencia, Innovación y Universidades (España), Agencia Estatal de Investigación (España), Ministère de la Transition écologique et de la Cohésion des territoires (France), European Commission, Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (US), Diputación Foral de Gipuzkoa, Federal Institute for Geosciences and Natural Resources (Germany), Federal Ministry of Education and Research (Germany), Bristol Robotics Laboratory, Interreg, National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, Wildlife Services (US), Oregon State University
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Springer 2023
• Subjects: Behavioural ecology; Dispersal; Gulls; Movements; Terns; Norway; Pacific; Alaska; Mite
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/10261/337856; https://doi.org/10.1007/s00442-023-05331-y; https://api.elsevier.com/content/abstract/scopus_id/85147585874

Compared to other animal movements, prospecting by adult individuals for a future breeding site is commonly overlooked. Prospecting influences the decision of where to breed and has consequences on fitness and lifetime reproductive success. By analysing movements of 31 satellite- and GPS-tracked gull and tern populations belonging to 14 species in Europe and North America, we examined the occurrence and factors explaining prospecting by actively breeding birds. Prospecting in active breeders occurred in 85.7% of studied species, across 61.3% of sampled populations. Prospecting was more common in populations with frequent inter-annual changes of breeding sites and among females. These results contradict theoretical models which predict that prospecting is expected to evolve in relatively predictable and stable environments. More long-term tracking studies are needed to identify factors affecting patterns of prospecting in different environments and understand the consequences of prospecting on fitness at the individual and population level. The study on black-legged kittiwakes in Norway was funded by the French Polar Institute (IPEV, programme no. 333 PARASITOARCTIQUE and OSU-OREME) and in France by Eoliennes Offshores du Calvados, Eoliennes Offshores des Hautes Falaises and the French Agency for Marine Protected Areas. Tracking of black-legged and red-legged kittiwakes in Alaska was supported by the North Pacific Research Board. The studies on Mediterranean gulls and gull-billed terns in Italy were funded by agreements between ISPRA and the Italian Ministry for the Ecological Transition (MiTE), formerly Ministry for Environment, Land and Sea Protection (MATTM); Decreti Min. Prot. 0004799-04/03/2016 and Prot. 34751-30/12/2019. The study of Audouin's gull in Spain was funded by the Spanish Ministry of Science, AEI/FEDER and UE (grants re. CGL2016-80963-R and CGL2017-85210-P), Project LIFE + INDEMARES (2009–2014; LIFE07NAT/E/000732), and was conducted by SEO/BirdLife. The study of Audouin's gull in Corse was ...