Evidence of sociality in the timing and location of foraging in a colonial seabird

Jones, Teri B.; Patrick, Samantha C.; Arnould, John P. Y.; Rodríguez-Malagón, Marlenne A.; Wells, Melanie R.; Green, Jonathan A.

doi:10.1098/rsbl.2018.0214

Cited by 30 publications

(25 citation statements)

References 25 publications

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“…Previous studies have found sociality in the foraging of gannets, and the use of conspecifics and heterospecifics as cues to locate prey (Jones et al, 2018;Thiebault et al, 2014;Tremblay et al, 2014). In the present study, individuals were often observed to forage with conspecifics.…”

Section: Prey Types Foraging Associations and Capture Successsupporting

confidence: 51%

“…One of the ways to optimize foraging efficiency is by reducing the search time, which is the time spent on finding prey. This can be achieved by group foraging, and relying on information obtained by observing the foraging of other individuals to find food sources (Jones et al, 2018;Valone, 1989). However, group foraging can also have disadvantages, such as risk of kleptoparasitism, competition for the same prey and interference between predators reducing prey accessibility (Machovsky-Capuska et al, 2011a;Safina, 1990;Shealer and Burger, 1993).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Factors influencing prey capture success and profitability in Australasian gannets (Morus serrator)

et al. 2020

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Knowledge of the factors influencing foraging efficiency in top predators can provide insights into the effects of environmental variability on their populations. Seabirds are important marine predators foraging in a highly temporally and spatially variable environment. While numerous studies have focussed on search time and its effects on foraging energetics in seabirds, relatively little is known about the factors influencing capture success and prey profitability in these predators. In the present study, animal-borne cameras were used to investigate the chase durations, capture success, handling durations and profitability of prey consumed by Australasian gannets (Morus serrator) (n=95) from two breeding colonies in southeastern Australia exposed to different oceanographic conditions. Capture success was generally lower when individuals foraged alone. However, foraging in multi-species groups and in high prey densities increased chase time, while larger prey elicited longer handling times. While prey type influenced profitability, high prey density and foraging in multi-species groups was found to lower prey profitability due to increased time expenditure. While previous studies have found group foraging reduces search time, the increased profitability explains why some animals may favour solitary foraging. Therefore, future studies should combine search time and the currently found factors.

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Section: Prey Types Foraging Associations and Capture Successsupporting

confidence: 51%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Factors influencing prey capture success and profitability in Australasian gannets (Morus serrator)

et al. 2020

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“…Another is the movement of birds within the colony. This may be a key factor shaping the soundscape of seabird colonies, as individuals within a colony are known to follow conspecifics between breeding sites and rafts or foraging grounds at sea (Weimerskirch et al 2010, Meier et al 2015, Jones et al 2018. Such behaviour results in defined routes, or corridors, that are used by many individuals within the colony (hereafter 'flight paths').…”

mentioning

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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“…Our observations at sea show that flocks were also age-structured remote from land. While it cannot be concluded from this that immatures follow older birds all the way to foraging areas, GPS tracking has recently shown that Australasian gannets leaving a small colony at the same time had more similar initial destinations than individuals leaving at different times, suggesting that birds commute from colonies to foraging patches together (Jones et al 2018). Although this result could also arise due to individuals using the same cues to locate distant foraging patches, tracking has shown that immature gannets often take direct rather than circuitous paths to foraging areas (Votier et al 2017).…”

Section: Information Gathering As a Driver Of Flock Positionmentioning

confidence: 98%

“…This process, known variously as local enhancement (Galef and Giraldeau 2001) or network foraging (Wittenburger and Hunt 1985), explains why gannets frequently form flocks on foraging grounds. However it does not explain why they also commute between their colonies and foraging areas in flocks, which they do frequently (Nelson 2001, Jones et al 2018. It is unlikely that group commuting is primarily a predator defence strategy: gannets are rarely predated by other birds at sea (Barrett 2008) and although northern gannets Morus bassanus are sometimes kleptoparasited by great skuas Stercorarius skua this threat is largely confined to the northern part of their range during the breeding season, yet gannets travel in flocks throughout their range.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Immature gannets follow adults in commuting flocks providing a potential mechanism for social learning

Wakefield

Furness

Lane

et al. 2019

Journal of Avian Biology

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Group travel is a familiar phenomenon among birds but the causes of this mode of movement are often unclear. For example, flocking flight may reduce flight costs, enhance predator avoidance or increase foraging efficiency. In addition, naive individuals may also follow older, more experienced conspecifics as a learning strategy. However, younger birds may be slower than adults so biomechanical and social effects on flock structure may be difficult to separate. Gannets are wide‐ranging (100s–1000s km) colonial seabirds that often travel in V or echelon‐shaped flocks. Tracking suggests that breeding gannets use memory to return repeatedly to prey patches 10s–100s km wide but it is unclear how these are initially discovered. Public information gained at the colony or by following conspecifics has been hypothesised to play a role, especially during early life. Here, we address two hypotheses: 1) flocking reduces flight costs and 2) young gannets follow older ones in order to locate prey. To do so, we recorded flocks of northern gannets commuting to and from a large colony and passing locations offshore and used a biomechanical model to test for age differences in flight speeds. Consistent with the aerodynamic hypothesis, returning flocks were significantly larger than departing flocks, while, consistent with the information gathering hypothesis, immatures travelled in flocks more frequently than adults and these flocks were more likely to be led by adults than expected by chance. Immatures did not systematically occupy the last position in flocks and had similar theoretical airspeeds to adults, making it unlikely that they follow, rather than lead, for biomechanical reasons. We therefore conclude that while gannets are likely to travel in flocks in part to reduce flight costs, the positions of immatures in those flocks may result in a flow of information from adults to immatures, potentially leading to social learning.

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Evidence of sociality in the timing and location of foraging in a colonial seabird

Cited by 30 publications

References 25 publications

Factors influencing prey capture success and profitability in Australasian gannets (Morus serrator)

Factors influencing prey capture success and profitability in Australasian gannets (Morus serrator)

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

Immature gannets follow adults in commuting flocks providing a potential mechanism for social learning

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