Feeding Strategies of the Short-Tailed Shearwater Vary by Year and Sea-Surface Temperature But Do Not Affect Breeding Success

The condor

Luke D. Einoder¹ 

关键词: chick condition;    feeding rate;    energy flow;    flexibility;    sea-surface temperature.;   

DOI  :  10.1525/cond.2013.120197

学科分类：动物科学

来源: Central Ornithology Publication Office

【 摘 要 】

Abstract. To understand how animals cope with environmental variability it is necessary to identify the degree of flexibility in a species' diet and foraging mode and the consequences of this flexibility for reproduction. We examined rates of feeding and energy delivery to chicks by a long-lived pelagic seabird, the Short-tailed Shearwater (Puffinus tenuirostris). Individual adults alternated between foraging trips of short and long duration in a dual foraging strategy, but the allocation of time on those trips varied significantly from year to year. In two years when sea-surface temperatures of feeding grounds exploited during short trips were cooler (2005, 2006) adults initially fed their chick more often, then feeding decreased through the chick-rearing period. In the following year of warmer sea-surface temperature (2007), the number of feedings per day was initially low but increased through chick rearing. Despite varied feeding patterns, breeding success was consistently high, yet in 2006 the chicks...

【 授权许可】

CC BY