Spatiotemporal predictability of schooling and nonschooling prey of Pigeon Guillemots
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Abstract
Low spatiotemporal variability in the abundance of nonschooling prey might allow Pigeon Guillemots (Cepphus columba) to maintain the high chick provisioning rates that are characteristic of the species. We tested predictions of this hypothesis with data collected with beach seines and scuba and hydroacoustic surveys in Kachemak Bay, Alaska, during 1996–1999. Coefficients of variability were 20–211% greater for schooling than nonschooling prey on day, seasonal, and km scales. However, the proportion of schooling prey in chick diets explained relatively little variability in Pigeon Guillemot meal delivery rates at the scale of hours (r2 = 0.07) and weeks (r2 = 0.19). Behavioral adaptations such as flexible time budgets likely ameliorate the negative effects of high resource variability, but we propose that these adaptations are only effective when schooling prey are available at distances well below the maximum foraging range of the species.
| Publication type | Article |
|---|---|
| Publication Subtype | Journal Article |
| Title | Spatiotemporal predictability of schooling and nonschooling prey of Pigeon Guillemots |
| Series title | The Condor |
| DOI | 10.1650/7330 |
| Volume | 106 |
| Issue | 2 |
| Year Published | 2004 |
| Language | English |
| Publisher | Cooper Ornithological Society |
| Contributing office(s) | Alaska Science Center |
| Description | 6 p. |
| First page | 410 |
| Last page | 415 |
| Country | United States |
| State | Alaska |
| Other Geospatial | Cooke Inlet, Kachemak Bay |
| Google Analytic Metrics | Metrics page |