Indexing winter gull numbers in Great Britain using data from the 1953 to 2004 Winter Gull Roost Surveys

Banks, Alex N.; Burton, Niall H. K.; Calladine, John; Austin, Graham E.

doi:10.1080/00063650802681623

Cited by 10 publications

(5 citation statements)

References 26 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…Our results are in-line with a lack of clear genetic divergence in the northern taxa of the Larus argentatus-fuscus-cachinnans group and support the hypothesis of a rapid spread across the Palaearctic [ 15 , 25 ], as generalist species are usually characterized by the colonization of a wide range of environments. These taxa have been very successful in conquering new habitats (see also [ 12 , 13 ]), and the overall population size of the species has been increasing over several decades [ 54 , 55 ]. As indicated by findings from comparing the success of invasions by birds species [ 5 ], we think that in this species flexibility might be an adaptive trait in a phase of rapid expansion and population growth.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Flexibility of habitat use in novel environments: insights from a translocation experiment with lesser black-backed gulls

et al. 2017

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Being faced with unknown environments is a concomitant challenge of species' range expansions. Strategies to cope with this challenge include the adaptation to local conditions and a flexibility in resource exploitation. The gulls of the Larus argentatus-fuscus-cachinnans group form a system in which ecological flexibility might have enabled them to expand their range considerably, and to colonize urban environments. However, on a population level both flexibility and local adaptation lead to signatures of differential habitat use in different environments, and these processes are not easily distinguished. Using the lesser black-backed gull (Larus fuscus) as a system, we put both flexibility and local adaptation to a test. We compare habitat use between two spatially separated populations, and use a translocation experiment during which individuals were released into novel environment. The experiment revealed that on a population-level flexibility best explains the differences in habitat use between the two populations. We think that our results suggest that the range expansion and huge success of this species complex could be a result of its broad ecological niche and flexibility in the exploitation of resources. However, this also advises caution when using species distribution models to extrapolate habitat use across space.

show abstract

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Flexibility of habitat use in novel environments: insights from a translocation experiment with lesser black-backed gulls

et al. 2017

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Further adults were trapped on their nests and colour-ringed at colonies on Sark (17) and Burhou, Alderney (67) in May and June 2009, respectively. Birds were sexed according to the combined length of head and bill (Baker 1993). Of the 157 adults colour-ringed, 53% (83) were identified as males, 36% (57) as females, and 11% (17) were left unsexed as their measurements fell in the overlap zone between the sexes.…”

Section: Study Area and Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…British and Irish breeding Lesser Black-backed Gulls were almost exclusively migratory until the 1950s, since when numbers wintering in the British Isles increased from a few hundreds to over 60,000 by 1993 (Cramp & Simmons 1983;Hickling 1986;Burton et al 2003), with further increases in some regions to 2004(Banks et al 2009); these include birds breeding in continental Europe, the Faeroes and Iceland, as well as British and Irish breeders (Rock 2002). Despite this, no large change was found in the proportion of British and Irish-ringed birds recovered dead in winter in Britain and Ireland compared to abroad, before (15%) or after 1970 (22%), nor any major change in their overseas distribution in winter (Rock 2002).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Spring arrival of adult Lesser Black-backed Gulls Larus fuscus nesting in Guernsey, Sark and Herm, Channel Islands

Veron

2010

Seabird

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Lesser Black-backed Gulls Larus fuscus nest in all the Channel Islands, with strongholds in Alderney and Sark. Breeding numbers in the islands (c. 1,730 pairs) appear presently stable, and the whole population is believed to leave the islands in winter. A colour-ringing programme began in 2008 and the timing and pattern of arrival for 125 colour-ringed adults, believed to be local breeders, was recorded at a landfill site on Guernsey from 1 January to 8 May 2010. Birds arrived back from 15 January to 1 May. Arrivals were slow initially, with only 6% back by mid February and 22% by the end of February. Peak arrival was from 27 February to 10 March, when 34% of birds were first recorded, and by the end of March 82% of birds had returned. Males did not arrive earlier than females. Five birds left the Channel Islands again soon after arriving, although all returned within a few days or weeks. Winter 2009/10 was unusually long and cold in the Channel Islands, and most of Western Europe, and further study should ascertain whether the arrival pattern of Lesser Black-backed Gulls in spring 2010 was affected by the harsher than average winter weather.

show abstract

“…This rapid decline in UK breeders at a time when vagrants were increasing makes it unlikely that vagrant gulls originate from UK colonies. Additionally, decadal censuses of wintering gulls have found that UK-breeding LBBG are wintering more frequently in the UK (Burton et al, 2003(Burton et al, , 2013Banks et al, 2009;Ross-Smith et al, 2015), rather than migrating to southwest Europe and northwest Africa (Hallgrimsson et al, 2012). Since UK LBBG show high wintering site fidelity (Thaxter et al, 2012), increased residency of UK LBBG further decreases the likelihood that North American vagrants originate from UK colonies.…”

Section: Source Population Of Lesser Black-backed Gullsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Predicting Source Populations of Vagrants Using Breeding Population Data: A Case Study of the Lesser Black-Backed Gull (Larus fuscus)

et al. 2021

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Vagrancy is critical in facilitating range expansion and colonization through exploration and occupation of potentially suitable habitat. Uncovering origins of vagrants will help us better understand not only species-specific vagrant movements, but how the dynamics of a naturally growing population influence vagrancy, and potentially lead to range expansion. Under the premise that occurrence of vagrants is linked to increasing population growth in the core of the breeding range, we assessed the utility of breeding population survey data to predict source populations of vagrants. Lesser Black-backed Gulls (LBBG) (Larus fuscus) served as our focal species due to their dramatic and well-documented history of vagrancy to North America in the last 30 years. We related annual occurrence of vagrants to indices of breeding population size and growth rate of breeding populations. We propose that the fastest growing population is the most likely source of recent vagrants to North America. Our study shows that it is possible to predict potential source populations of vagrants with breeding population data, but breeding surveys require increased standardization across years to improve models. For the Lesser Black-backed Gull, Iceland’s breeding population likely influenced vagrancy during the early years of colonization, but the major increase in vagrants occurred during a period of growth of Greenland’s population, suggesting that Greenland is the source population of the most recent pulse of vagrant LBBG to North America.

show abstract

Indexing winter gull numbers in Great Britain using data from the 1953 to 2004 Winter Gull Roost Surveys

Cited by 10 publications

References 26 publications

Flexibility of habitat use in novel environments: insights from a translocation experiment with lesser black-backed gulls

Flexibility of habitat use in novel environments: insights from a translocation experiment with lesser black-backed gulls

Spring arrival of adult Lesser Black-backed Gulls Larus fuscus nesting in Guernsey, Sark and Herm, Channel Islands

Predicting Source Populations of Vagrants Using Breeding Population Data: A Case Study of the Lesser Black-Backed Gull (Larus fuscus)

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About