Courtship-feeding and clutch size in Common terns Sterna hirundo

1977 ◽  
pp. 101-109 ◽  
Author(s):  
I. C. T. Nisbet
Keyword(s):  
Clutch Size ◽  
Sterna Hirundo ◽  
Common Terns ◽  
Courtship Feeding

scholarly journals Some Population Aspects of Common Tern Sterna hirundo Breeding in Algeria at a Small Mediterranean Island (East Coast of Algeria)

2021 ◽  
Vol 40 (1) ◽  
pp. 62-69
Author(s):  
Mohamed Dhaya El-Hak Khemis ◽  
Lamia Boutabia ◽  
Kamilia Farhi ◽  
Ali Elafri ◽  
Asma Kahli ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Clutch Size ◽  
Hatching Success ◽  
Population Decline ◽  
Shape Index ◽  
Common Tern ◽  
Small Island ◽  
Sterna Hirundo ◽  
Common Terns ◽  
Mediterranean Island ◽  
Mussel Shells

Abstract We present the first detailed study of population dynamics, breeding biology and egg measurement of Common Terns. During six years (from 2004 to 2009) of monitoring, from mid-May to mid-August, 74 Common Terns individual were recorded at Laouinet small island, El Tarf, northeast of Algeria, witha finite population growth rate that indicated an alarming population decline(λ = -0.62: Lambda). Sterna hirundo build its nests (n = 37) in the northeast at a mean distance of 7.58 m from the closest edge of rocks. The nests were closed and ovoid, constituted mainly of mussel shells Sandpit, stems and leaves. Incubation was performed by pairs of common tern and lasted 25.5 ±3.4 days. We recorded a clutch size of 1 to 3 eggs with mean clutch size of 2.45±0.65 (41.24±0.83 × 30.46±0.62 mm). The egg parameters (volume, mass, shape index) varied between the six years of the study. The egg volume (19.24±0.87) depended more on egg width (30.46±0.62), however the egg shape (0.73±0.20) depended negatively on the egg length (41.24±0.83) but not on the egg width. Our results also showed a stabilized hatching success and a best estimation of breeding success. The hatching success did not vary between years: 70.5% in 2004, 68.75% in 2005, 71.42% in 2006, 71.42% in 2007, 69.23% in 2008 and 69.23% in 2009.

Seasonal differences in courtship feeding rates of male common terns

1986 ◽  
Vol 64 (2) ◽  
pp. 501-507 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ralph D. Morris
Keyword(s):  
Breeding Season ◽  
Feeding Rate ◽  
Egg Laying ◽  
Sterna Hirundo ◽  
Feeding Rates ◽  
Seasonal Differences ◽  
Common Terns ◽  
Courtship Feeding

Courtship feeding rates by male common terns (Sterna hirundo) nesting late in the 1982 breeding season were markedly lower than those of peak nesters in that year. In 1983, however, there were no differences in courtship feeding rates between peak and late nesters. Both groups of males in 1983 fed females at similar rates before the first eggs were laid, and both rates declined after the second eggs were laid. Larger fish were fed to the females later in the season. Late nesting males adjusted their feeding rates to the size of fish delivered; males feeding larger fish fed them at a lower rate than males feeding smaller fish. There was no difference in the weights of three-egg clutches laid by peak and late nesting females, and there was no correlation between courtship feeding rate and clutch weight. As all females were apparently able to obtain sufficient nutrition to provision their eggs adequately, I suggest that 1983 was an unusually favourable food year at Port Colborne. This view accepts courtship feeding as an adaptation enabling the female to obtain sufficient nutrients before and during egg laying. Other functions of the behaviour at other times during a breeding bout are not precluded.

Common Terns Raise Young from Successive Broods

The Auk ◽  
1984 ◽  
Vol 101 (2) ◽  
pp. 274-280 ◽  
Author(s):  
Helen Hays
Keyword(s):  
Breeding Season ◽  
Sterna Hirundo ◽  
Feeding Rates ◽  
Male And Female ◽  
Common Terns ◽  
Second Clutch

Abstract In this paper I report the first instance of a pair of Common Terns (Sterna hirundo) raising young in successive clutches during one breeding season and discuss this phenomenon in relation to male and female incubation and feeding rates and to predation. Five other pairs are noted in which the female and sometimes the male incubated a second clutch while still feeding one young from their first nest.

Nest taphonomy of common terns (Sterna hirundo) on Poplar Island, Chesapeake Bay, Maryland

2013 ◽  
Vol 26 (2) ◽  
pp. 155-164 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paula L. Wang ◽  
Frankie D. Jackson ◽  
David J. Varricchio
Keyword(s):  
Chesapeake Bay ◽  
Sterna Hirundo ◽  
Common Terns

scholarly journals Floating rafts as breeding habitats for the Common tern, Sterna hirundo. Colonization patterns, abundance and reproductive success in Venice Lagoon

2018 ◽  
Vol 88 (1) ◽  
pp. 23-32 ◽  
Author(s):  
Francesca Coccon ◽  
Stefano Borella ◽  
Nicola Simeoni ◽  
Stefano Malavasi
Keyword(s):  
Reproductive Success ◽  
Breeding Population ◽  
Venice Lagoon ◽  
Reproductive Period ◽  
Common Tern ◽  
Sterna Hirundo ◽  
Breeding Sites ◽  
Common Terns ◽  
Colonization Patterns ◽  
Floating Rafts

The Venice lagoon hosts the 15% of the entire Italian breeding population of Common terns, Sterna hirundo, highlighting the great value of the area for this species. However, in the last 25 years, a substantial decline of Common terns has been detected in the Lagoon, which culminated in 2008. The main causes of this negative trend were the loss of salt marsh habitats, where terns typically breed in the Venice lagoon. This was due to the increase in the mean sea level and the greater frequency of high tides during the reproductive period with consequent flooding of their breeding sites; competition with yellowlegged gulls (Larus michahellis), predation and human disturbance. As a preliminary experimental approach to counter the depletion of the species and favour its recovery, we performed a habitat loss compensation project by setting up four floating rafts (3x2m), covered by two different types of substrate (sandy and vegetal substrate). This was to function as an artificial nesting site safe from flooding, positioned in a protected internal wetland area of the Venice lagoon, Valle Averto (Sourthern Lagoon). We studied the colonization patterns of the rafts and the reproductive success of Common tern breeding pairs during the 2014 and 2015 breeding seasons. We also investigated those environmental and structural variables that could favour the use of the rafts and the nesting success of the species. In both years, the rafts were successfully colonized and used by terns for nesting. Our results also indicated higher temperature, lower rainfall and greater distance from the shore as the main habitat factors favouring the occurrence and the reproductive success of the breeding pairs, while a windrow of dead plants was indicated as the preferred substrate for covering rafts in order to make them more attractive. The results provided some suggestions for successful restoration plans to be developed in similar lagoon areas.

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