Caspian Terns (<i>Hydroprogne caspia</i>) Fledge a Ring-billed Gull (<i>Larus delawarensis</i>) Chick: Successful Waterbird Adoption Across Taxonomic Families

Oswald, Stephen A.; Wails, Christy N.; Morey, Brittany E.; Arnold, Jennifer M.

doi:10.1675/063.036.0318

Cited by 8 publications

(6 citation statements)

References 19 publications

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“…Raw data are represented by the points, with colours and shapes corresponding to the treatment groups (orange circles, sucrose solution control; green triangles, transient oil; blue squares, chronic oil). The linear growth phase occurred between 5 and 22 dph and the growth curves appear identical to growth curves of unsupplemented ring-billed gulls published in previous studies ( Chardine, 1978 ; Dawson et al, 1976 ; Iacovides and Evans, 1998 ; Oswald et al, 2013 ). …”

Section: Resultssupporting

confidence: 85%

“…Chicks in our population are unlikely to consume significant amounts of n-3 LCPUFAs in their diet ( Brousseau et al, 1996 ; Caron-Beaudoin et al, 2013 ), so the total amount of n-3 LCPUFAs consumed by experimental chicks should remain within the natural range for this species. Age-specific masses were estimated in advance according to previous studies ( Chardine, 1978 ; Dawson et al, 1976 ; Iacovides and Evans, 1998 ; Oswald et al, 2013 ) so that supplements could be prepared. Total energetic requirements at each age were calculated according to the age-specific and mass-specific formula for the closely related herring gull, Larus argentatus (mass: Drent et al, 1992 ; Dunn, 1976 ; Norstrom et al, 1986 ; phylogeny: Liebers-Helbig et al, 2010 ; Pons et al, 2005 ), as a comparable formula does not exist for ring-billed gulls.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Omega-3 fatty acids accelerate fledging in an avian marine predator: a potential role of cognition

Lamarre

Cheema

Robertson

et al. 2021

Journal of Experimental Biology

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Consuming omega-3 fatty acids (n3-LCPUFAs) during development improves cognition in mammals, but the effect remains untested in other taxa. In aquatic ecosystems, n3-LCPUFAs are produced by phytoplankton and bioaccumulate in the food web. Alarmingly, the warming and acidification of aquatic systems caused by climate change impair n3-LCPUFA production, with an anticipated decrease of 80% by the year 2100. We tested whether n3-LCPUFA consumption affects the physiology, morphology, behaviour, and cognition of a top marine predator's chicks, the ring-billed gull. Using a colony with little access to n3-LCPUFAs, we supplemented siblings from 22 fenced nests with opposite treatments from hatching until fledging; one sibling received n3-LCPUFA-rich fish oil and the other, a control sucrose solution without n3-LCPUFAs. Halfway through the nestling period, half the chicks receiving fish oil were switched to the sucrose solution to test whether n3-LCPUFA intake remains crucial past the main growth phase (chronic versus transient treatments). Upon fledging, n3-LCPUFAs were elevated in the blood and brains of chicks receiving the chronic treatment, but were comparable to control levels among transient chicks. Across the entire sample, chicks with elevated n3-LCPUFAs in their tissues fledged earlier despite their morphology and activity levels being unrelated to fledging age. Fledging required chicks to escape fences encircling their nest. We therefore interpret fledging age as a possible indicator of cognition, with chicks with improved cognition fledging earlier. These results provide insight into whether declining dietary n3-LCPUFAs will compromise top predators' problem-solving skills, thus, their ability to survive in a rapidly changing world.

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Section: Resultssupporting

confidence: 85%

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Omega-3 fatty acids accelerate fledging in an avian marine predator: a potential role of cognition

Lamarre

Cheema

Robertson

et al. 2021

Journal of Experimental Biology

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“…This phenomenon evokes similarities with the interspecific behavioral diversions episodically reported in other vertebrates providing parental care. Incidental cases of interspecific adoption - most often between relatively closely related species - are well documented in mammals and birds 24,25 . Some birds, such as the cuckoos ( Cucculus sp.)…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Empathy and compassion toward other species decrease with evolutionary divergence time

Miralles

Raymond

Lecointre

2019

Sci Rep

126

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Currently the planet is inhabited by several millions of extremely diversified species. Not all of them arouse emotions of the same nature or intensity in humans. Little is known about the extent of our affective responses toward them and the factors that may explain these differences. Our online survey involved 3500 raters who had to make choices depending on specific questions designed to either assess their empathic perceptions or their compassionate reactions toward an extended photographic sampling of organisms. Results show a strong negative correlation between empathy scores and the divergence time separating them from us. However, beyond a certain time of divergence, our empathic perceptions stabilize at a minimum level. Compassion scores, although based on less spontaneous choices, remain strongly correlated to empathy scores and time of divergence. The mosaic of features characterizing humans has been acquired gradually over the course of the evolution, and the phylogenetically closer a species is to us, the more it shares common traits with us. Our results could be explained by the fact that many of these traits may arouse sensory biases. These anthropomorphic signals could be able to mobilize cognitive circuitry and to trigger prosocial behaviors usually at work in human relationships.

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“…For each study nest in 2009 and in 2015 with sufficient data (4+ searches), we used carcass data to calculate daily bird prey consumption on each visit: dividing the number of carcasses recorded by the days since last search. We estimated that >0.5 carcasses/d would provide for the daily energetic demands of the two members of a breeding pair (1460 kJ/d [ 13 ]), estimating 2834 kJ per carcass by assuming all predated chicks were near fledging weight (400 g [ 33 ]), had an energy density of 10.9 kJ/g and only 65% of the carcass was digestible [ 29 ].…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Opportunistic predation of birds by breeding Herring Gulls (Larus argentatus)

et al. 2020

Self Cite

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Dietary specialization, exploiting a small fraction of available food resources, is commonly reported for gulls and skuas. Predation of birds by these species is usually considered a specialist strategy employed by the minority of the population but non-specialists also predate birds and may actually have a greater impact on the prey species. To date, most studies have focused on predatory bird-specialists, down-playing the possible importance of opportunistic predation by non-specialists. We addressed this by studying diet (regurgitated pellets and prey remains) and behavior of breeding Herring Gulls ( Larus argentatus ) over three summers at Gull Island, a mixed-species breeding colony in Lake Ontario. One-third of all pellets analyzed contained bird remains, primarily the most numerous breeding bird: Ring-billed Gull ( L . delawarensis ) chicks (51%) and adults (36%). Although all but one pair of Herring Gulls ate birds, all pairs maintained broad and mostly similar diets, with birds accounting for at most one-third of prey. Behavior also indicated that Herring Gulls at Gull Island were not predatory bird-specialists because predation was too infrequent to meet energetic requirements, was largely unsuccessful and was only ever observed when Ring-billed Gulls strayed into Herring Gull breeding territories. Instead, bird predation appeared mainly opportunistic, increasing with seasonal availability, access to shoreline, proximity to nesting Ring-billed Gulls and breeding territory size. Compared with predatory specialist Herring Gulls in the same region, individuals that predated birds at Gull Island did not display specialist behaviors and killed six times fewer birds (0.1–0.4 per day, on average) but were over 20 times more numerous (98% of the population versus 4%). Thus, our results indicate that opportunistic predation by non-specialists may have important consequences for prey species. Since opportunistic predation cannot be effectively managed using techniques widely advocated for specialist predators, it is essential to investigate cause of predation by large gulls prior to lethal management.

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Caspian Terns (Hydroprogne caspia) Fledge a Ring-billed Gull (Larus delawarensis) Chick: Successful Waterbird Adoption Across Taxonomic Families

Cited by 8 publications

References 19 publications

Omega-3 fatty acids accelerate fledging in an avian marine predator: a potential role of cognition

Omega-3 fatty acids accelerate fledging in an avian marine predator: a potential role of cognition

Empathy and compassion toward other species decrease with evolutionary divergence time

Opportunistic predation of birds by breeding Herring Gulls (Larus argentatus)

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