Albatrosses prospect before choosing a home: Intrinsic and extrinsic sources of variability in visit rates

Campioni, Letizia; Granadeiro, José Pedro; Catry, Paulo

Publication

Albatrosses prospect before choosing a home: Intrinsic and extrinsic sources of variability in visit rates

2017Journal article

dc.contributor.author	Campioni, Letizia
dc.contributor.author	Granadeiro, José Pedro
dc.contributor.author	Catry, Paulo
dc.date.accessioned	2017-07-20T14:39:00Z
dc.date.available	2017-07-20T14:39:00Z
dc.date.issued	2017
dc.description.abstract	In long-lived species with delayed maturity, prebreeders are expected to gather information by visiting and sampling the quality of potential nesting areas (prospecting), before they choose where to breed. In most seabirds, this process is important because, once recruited, individuals generally remain sitefaithful throughout their long reproductive life. As many seabirds are believed to display low levels of natal dispersal, it is possible that natal philopatry is an obligate strategy for most individuals, with prospecting being a negligible activity during the prebreeding stage. Using ringing information and GPS technology, we tracked breeding adults and prebreeder black-browed albatrosses, Thalassarche melanophris, from a colony of the Falkland Islands, during the breeding season. Breeding adults rarely engaged in prospecting, whereas prebreeders showed a high propensity to visit other colonies. Most prebreeders started prospecting ashore when 4e5 years old and most of the younger individuals prospected more than one breeding colony, with some prospecting up to five colonies in just 9 days. Prospecting activity did not differ between males and females and rapidly declined as prebreeders aged, by which time individuals had probably already selected their future nesting site. Nestling body mass at 60 days of age and hatching date did not influence prospecting behaviour later in life. Prospecting was mostly directed at colonies within 10 km from the natal place, but occurred regularly up to 55e65 km. While distance from the natal place was a strong predictor of the probability of a colony being prospected, colony size and growth rate were not. Our results provide new insights into the role of prospecting in the process of recruitment, showing that even for highly philopatric birds, recruitment to the natal colony (or to another nesting site) has the potential to be informed, not done blindly.	pt_PT
dc.description.version	info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion	pt_PT
dc.identifier.citation	Animal Behaviour, 128, 85-93	pt_PT
dc.identifier.doi	http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.anbehav.2017.04.008	pt_PT
dc.identifier.issn	0003-3472
dc.identifier.uri	http://hdl.handle.net/10400.12/5694
dc.language.iso	eng	pt_PT
dc.peerreviewed	yes	pt_PT
dc.publisher	Elsevier	pt_PT
dc.rights.uri	http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/	pt_PT
dc.subject	Dispersal	pt_PT
dc.subject	GPS tracking	pt_PT
dc.subject	Philopatry	pt_PT
dc.subject	Prebreeder	pt_PT
dc.subject	Prospecting behaviour	pt_PT
dc.subject	Seabirds	pt_PT
dc.title	Albatrosses prospect before choosing a home: Intrinsic and extrinsic sources of variability in visit rates	pt_PT
dc.type	journal article
dspace.entity.type	Publication
oaire.citation.conferencePlace	United States	pt_PT
oaire.citation.endPage	93	pt_PT
oaire.citation.startPage	85	pt_PT
oaire.citation.title	Animal Behaviour	pt_PT
oaire.citation.volume	128	pt_PT
rcaap.rights	restrictedAccess	pt_PT
rcaap.type	article	pt_PT