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Article Dans Une Revue Ibis Année : 2019

Inter‐population variation in the behaviour of adult and juvenile Red‐footed Boobies Sula sula

Résumé

Early life is a critical phase of the life cycle of animals and is attracting increased attention because little information is available on the behaviour of young individuals during this period. Behaviour during early life is probably influenced by the environmental conditions encountered by young animals, but data on intraspecific variation between breeding sites during this crucial period of life are limited. Here we study variability in the foraging behaviour of juveniles and adults in three colonies of a pantropical seabird, the Red‐footed Booby Sula sula. Both adults and juveniles were measured and fitted with GPS loggers in three remote islands: Genovesa (Galapagos, Eastern Pacific Ocean), Europa (Western Indian Ocean) and Surprise (New Caledonia, Western Pacific Ocean). Foraging behaviour was compared between age classes, sex and colonies by examining trip characteristics, different behaviours at sea, potential associations between individuals, as well as morphological characteristics. Compared to adults, juveniles conducted shorter trips that were restricted around the colony, especially on Genovesa (max range: 203.4 ± 125.1 km and 3.6 ± 3.1 km, respectively). Juveniles appeared more constrained by poor flight skills and experience rather than by their morphology. Adults travelled 45% of the time during at‐sea trips, while juveniles travelled a lower proportion of time but foraged more often using an ‘area‐restricted search’ behaviour, potentially training to catch prey. Associations between juveniles were commonly detected in the three colonies and occurred mostly during foraging, suggesting that social learning is an important strategy. Variability of morphometric measurements in both adults and juveniles was high between sites, with larger birds found on Genovesa. These results suggest that adaptations to local environmental conditions are already visible in their early life. Future studies should continue to investigate the behavioural flexibility of juvenile birds to better understand the effect of local environmental conditions during this critical stage of life.

Dates et versions

hal-02297475 , version 1 (26-09-2019)

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Loriane Mendez, Aurélien Prudor, Henri Weimerskirch. Inter‐population variation in the behaviour of adult and juvenile Red‐footed Boobies Sula sula. Ibis, 2019, 162, pp.460-476. ⟨10.1111/ibi.12779⟩. ⟨hal-02297475⟩
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