Dynamic group size and displacement as avoidance strategies by eiders in response to hunting
Hunting by humans constitutes a major source of mortality that selects for avoidance strategies. Group formation in eiders Somateria mollissima in response to hunting from motorboats was studied in the Danish Wadden Sea as an avoidance strategy to humans. In autumn the birds' food demand and en...
| Published in: | Wildlife Biology |
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| Main Authors: | , , |
| Format: | Article in Journal/Newspaper |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
2016
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://pure.au.dk/portal/da/publications/dynamic-group-size-and-displacement-as-avoidance-strategies-by-eiders-in-response-to-hunting(5280d7d2-5e8f-4db6-b4df-0cc229c8b168).html https://doi.org/10.2981/wlb.00197 |
| Summary: | Hunting by humans constitutes a major source of mortality that selects for avoidance strategies. Group formation in eiders Somateria mollissima in response to hunting from motorboats was studied in the Danish Wadden Sea as an avoidance strategy to humans. In autumn the birds' food demand and energy consumption are relatively low and the need for optimal feeding opportunities are not as essential as during winter. We tested the hypothesis that eiders aggregate in groups of variable size dependent on predation risk (hunting), season and site. During autumn at the preferred feeding sites eiders occur in small numbers and group size increase together with hunting activity. Opposite during winter, eiders occur in large numbers and group size decrease when hunting activity increase. Hunting activity displaced eiders to adjacent sites with no or low hunting intensity and low food availability where group size of eiders increase during both autumn and winter in relation to the overall hunting activity. The formation into larger groups when hunting activity increase is probably due to increasing effects of vigilance and dilution, whereas formation into smaller groups is assumed to reduce the eiders conspicuousness to hunters. This change in group size made it possible for eiders to forage in areas with high food availability and high hunting intensity, while minimizing the risk of being detected by hunters. When the largest numbers of hunters were present at the preferred feeding site, group sizes during both autumn and winter were 110-125 eiders, indicating an optimal group size in relation to hunting density. Eiders located outside preferred feeding sites were in poorer body condition, suggesting that displacement was a suboptimal decision caused by hunting. We conclude that eiders adopted regrouping and displacement as two different strategies during hunting. Both strategies are tradeoffs between the risks of being detected by hunters and killed, and the benefits of feeding on mussel stocks thereby increasing body ... |
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