Parental investment in the rhinoceros auklet (Cerorhinca monocerata) at the colony and at sea off southwestern Vancouver Island
Date
1997
Authors
Davoren, Gail K.
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Abstract
This study was the first to simultaneously record ocean-based, colony-based and at-sea time budget information for a pursuit-diving seabird. The primary objective was to determine if fluctuations in prey availability. The major findings of this study were fourfold. First, auklets showed great plasticity in their strategies and showed flexibility in their daily time budgets when faced with varying prey availability and energetic constraints. Second, auklets showed flexibility in their provisioning behaviour, resulting in increased chick growth rates. These results suggest that auklets are capable of buffering the effects of lowered prey availability, or other adverse conditions, on reproductive success and adult survival. Third, nestling and adult diets reflected both diurnal behaviors and seasonal habitat preferences of auklet prey species. All of these results suggest that auklets may be reasonable indicators of prey availability and prevailing ocean conditions. Fourth, auklets made a consistent switch between both foraging strategies and prey preferences when self-feeding in comparison to when collecting chick meals. Although several studies have documented different diets of seabird adults and chicks, this is the first study to document different foraging strategies used in adult and chick provisioning.