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Sex-specific foraging behaviour may lead to differences between the sexes in both resource acquisition and exposure to threats and thereby contribute to sex-specific reproductive roles or mortality. As such, it is important to identify in which species sex-specific foraging behaviour occurs. We deployed GPS devices to incubating common terns (Sterna hirundo) from a German breeding population to study how sex and spatial or temporal extrinsic factors influence the daily activity budget, foraging distribution, and trip characteristics of this slightly sexually size dimorphic seabird. Birds of both sexes only foraged during the day, showing peaks of activity after sunrise and before sunset, perhaps in response to temporal variation in prey availability and/or as a strategy to overcome or prepare for nocturnal fasting. Furthermore, foraging was more frequent around low tide and at the beginning of the flood tide and mainly occurred in shallow (< 5 m depth) and coastal waters (< 2 km from coastline) up to 20 km from the colony. Females rested less, foraged closer to the colony in more coastal waters, and showed a lower maximum flight speed than males. Males foraged more outside protected areas than females and showed higher variability in their foraging distribution throughout the tide cycle. As such, our study provides evidence for sex-specific aspects of foraging behaviour in common terns and underlines the importance of considering sex-specific foraging distributions when assessing the impact of at-sea threats on seabirds, knowledge of which should be incorporated when developing conservation management strategies.
Sex-specific foraging behaviour may lead to differences between the sexes in both resource acquisition and exposure to threats and thereby contribute to sex-specific reproductive roles or mortality. As such, it is important to identify in which species sex-specific foraging behaviour occurs. We deployed GPS devices to incubating common terns (Sterna hirundo) from a German breeding population to study how sex and spatial or temporal extrinsic factors influence the daily activity budget, foraging distribution, and trip characteristics of this slightly sexually size dimorphic seabird. Birds of both sexes only foraged during the day, showing peaks of activity after sunrise and before sunset, perhaps in response to temporal variation in prey availability and/or as a strategy to overcome or prepare for nocturnal fasting. Furthermore, foraging was more frequent around low tide and at the beginning of the flood tide and mainly occurred in shallow (< 5 m depth) and coastal waters (< 2 km from coastline) up to 20 km from the colony. Females rested less, foraged closer to the colony in more coastal waters, and showed a lower maximum flight speed than males. Males foraged more outside protected areas than females and showed higher variability in their foraging distribution throughout the tide cycle. As such, our study provides evidence for sex-specific aspects of foraging behaviour in common terns and underlines the importance of considering sex-specific foraging distributions when assessing the impact of at-sea threats on seabirds, knowledge of which should be incorporated when developing conservation management strategies.
No abstract
The largest rivers in developed countries have usually been turned into waterways by straightening them and removing large bedforms hampering navigation. For river restoration and their sustainable management it is important to know how large bedforms support biodiversity, whether they could be protected and what potential conflicts in river management they can pose. We have addressed these questions by studying the role of large bedforms in supporting populations of two inland tern species Sternula albifrons and Sterna hirundo. We spatially analysed the behaviour of these two species with reference to the bedform structure mapped over a long semi-natural reach of the River Wisła (Vistula) (S. Poland). The results show that radiotagged terns breed on islands within the aggradation reaches, foraging in the adjacent shallows inhabited by populations of small fish. For Little Terns, the more complex the water line of emergent forms, the greater their foraging intensity. The islands do not pose any flood risk to human settlements. The whole geofeature forms an integral habitat for fish and birds; it is maintained by its geographic settings and so is stable over long periods of time (over 200 years). Protection of such habitats is thus feasible.
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