Audubon's Shearwaters <i>Puffinus Iherminieri</i> on Réunion Island, Indian Ocean: behaviour, census, distribution, biometrics and breeding biology

Bretagnolle, Vincent; Attié, Carole; Mougeot, François

doi:10.1111/j.1474-919x.2000.tb04436.x

Cited by 27 publications

(23 citation statements)

References 24 publications

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“…An example of this is the significantly reduced acoustic activity on moonlit nights, a well‐known phenomenon thought to be a predator avoidance mechanism (Bretagnolle et al . , Oppel et al . ).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Acoustic activity across a seabird colony reflects patterns of within‐colony flight rather than nest density

Arneill

Critchley

Wischnewski

et al. 2019

Ibis

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Passive acoustic monitoring is increasingly being used as a cost‐effective way to study wildlife populations, especially those that are difficult to census using conventional methods. Burrow‐nesting seabirds are among the most threatened birds globally, but they are also one of the most challenging taxa to census, making them prime candidates for research into such automated monitoring platforms. Passive acoustic monitoring has the potential to determine presence/absence or quantify burrow‐nesting populations, but its effectiveness remains unclear. We compared passive acoustic monitoring, tape‐playbacks and GPS tracking data to investigate the ability of passive acoustic monitoring to capture unbiased estimates of within‐colony variation in nest density for the Manx Shearwater Puffinus puffinus. Variation in acoustic activity across 12 study plots on an island colony was examined in relation to burrow density and environmental factors across 2 years. As predicted fewer calls were recorded when wind speed was high, and on moon‐lit nights, but there was no correlation between acoustic activity and the density of breeding birds within the plots as determined by tape‐playback surveys. Instead, acoustic indices correlated positively with spatial variation in the in‐colony flight activity of breeding individuals detected by GPS. Although passive acoustic monitoring has enormous potential in avian conservation, our results highlight the importance of understanding behaviour when using passive acoustic monitoring to estimate density and distribution.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Acoustic activity across a seabird colony reflects patterns of within‐colony flight rather than nest density

Arneill

Critchley

Wischnewski

et al. 2019

Ibis

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“…Interestingly, in many species, moonlight appears to affect colony attendance behaviour even in the apparent absence of direct predation pressures (Day & Cooper ; Bretagnolle et al. ). This suggests that moonlight avoidance might have an innate component, which may have evolved in response to natural selection on predator avoidance acting in the past, and is maintained despite the lack of current selective pressures.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In shearwaters, moonlight avoidance when attending colonies is more evident among non-breeders (Bretagnolle 1990), probably because they are subject to higher predation risk due to the larger amount of time spent outside the nest burrows (Mougeot & Bretagnolle 2000b). Interestingly, in many species, moonlight appears to affect colony attendance behaviour even in the apparent absence of direct predation pressures (Day & Cooper 1995;Bretagnolle et al 2000). This suggests that moonlight avoidance might have an innate component, which may have evolved in response to natural selection on predator avoidance acting in the past, and is maintained despite the lack of current selective pressures.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Effect of Moonlight on Scopoli's Shearwater Calonectris diomedea Colony Attendance Patterns and Nocturnal Foraging: A Test of the Foraging Efficiency Hypothesis

et al. 2014

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Moonlight is known to affect the nocturnal behaviour and activity rhythms of many organisms. For instance, predators active at night may take advantage from increased visibility afforded by the moon, while prey might regulate their activity patterns to become less detectable. Many species of pelagic seabirds attend their colony only at night, in complete darkness, avoiding approaching their nest sites under moonlight. This behaviour has been most often interpreted as an antipredator adaptation ('predation avoidance' hypothesis). However, it may also reflect a lower foraging efficiency during moonlit nights ('foraging efficiency' hypothesis). Indeed, moonlight may reduce prey availability because preferred seabird prey is known to occur at higher depths in moonlit nights. Using high-accuracy behavioural information from data loggers, we investigated the effect of moonlight on colony attendance and at-sea nocturnal foraging in breeding Scopoli's shearwaters Calonectris diomedea. We found that birds departing for self-feeding trips around the full moon performed longer trips than those departing around the new moon. On nights when the moon was present only partly, nest burrow entrances took place largely in the moonless portion of the night. Moreover, contrary to predictions from the 'foraging efficiency' hypothesis, nocturnal foraging activity increased according to moonlight intensity, suggesting that birds increased their foraging activity when prey became more detectable. This study strengthens the idea that colony attendance behaviour is strictly controlled by moonlight in shearwaters, which is possibly related to the perception of a predation risk.

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“…(e) Location of seabird colonies (according to: Bretagnolle et al 2000, Burger and Lawrence 2001, Le Corre 2001, Le Corre et al 2002 Th e climatological resolution is shown (the seasonal resolution provides very similar maps).…”

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confidence: 99%

Predicting top predator habitats in the Southwest Indian Ocean

Mannocci¹,

Laran²,

Monestiez³

et al. 2013

Ecography

102

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International audienceTop predators need to develop optimal strategies of resources and habitats utilization in order to optimize their foraging success. At the individual scale, a predator has to maximize his intake of food while minimizing his cost of foraging to optimize his energetic gain. At the ecosystem scale, we hypothesized that foraging strategies of predators also respond to their general energetic constraints. Predators with energetically costly lifestyles may be constrained to select high quality habitats whereas more phlegmatic predators may occupy both low and high quality habitats. The objectives of this study were 1) to investigate predator responses to heterogeneity in habitat quality with reference to their energetic strategies and 2) to evaluate their responses to contemporaneous versus averaged habitat quality. We collected cetacean and seabird data from an aerial survey in the Southwest Indian Ocean, a region characterized by heterogeneous oceanographic conditions. We classified cetaceans and seabirds into energetic guilds and described their habitats using remotely sensed covariates at contemporaneous and time-averaged resolutions and static covariates. We used generalized additive models to predict their habitats at the regional scale. Strategies of habitat utilization appeared in accordance with predators energetic constraints. Cetaceans responded to the heterogeneity in habitat quality, with higher densities predicted in more productive areas. However, the costly Delphininae appeared to be more dependent on habitat quality (showing a 1-to-13 ratio between the lowest and highest density sectors) than the more phlegmatic sperm and beaked whales (showing only a 1-to-3 ratio). For seabirds, predictions primarily reflected colony locations, although the colony effect was stronger for costly seabirds. Moreover, our results suggest that predators may respond better to persistent oceanographic features. To provide a third dimension to habitat quality, cetacean strategies of utilization of the vertical habitat could be related to the distribution of micronekton in the water column

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Audubon's Shearwaters Puffinus Iherminieri on Réunion Island, Indian Ocean: behaviour, census, distribution, biometrics and breeding biology

Cited by 27 publications

References 24 publications

Acoustic activity across a seabird colony reflects patterns of within‐colony flight rather than nest density

Acoustic activity across a seabird colony reflects patterns of within‐colony flight rather than nest density

The Effect of Moonlight on Scopoli's Shearwater Calonectris diomedea Colony Attendance Patterns and Nocturnal Foraging: A Test of the Foraging Efficiency Hypothesis

Predicting top predator habitats in the Southwest Indian Ocean

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