Herring Gulls and Common Terns as Possible Predators of Lobster Larvae

1957 ◽  
Vol 14 (5) ◽  
pp. 729-730 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. H. Mills
Keyword(s):  
Common Tern ◽  
Larus Argentatus ◽  
Herring Gull ◽  
Sterna Hirundo ◽  
Herring Gulls ◽  
Common Terns

Herring gulls (Larus argentatus) and common terns (Sterna hirundo) were collected in the southern Gulf of St. Lawrence when lobster larvae were abundant. No lobster larvae were found in 36 herring gull stomachs and only one in 15 common tern stomachs.

scholarly journals Costs and benefits to Red-breasted Mergansers nesting in tern and gull colonies

1986 ◽  
Vol 64 (10) ◽  
pp. 2339-2343 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrew D. Young ◽  
Rodger D. Titman
Keyword(s):  
New Brunswick ◽  
East Coast ◽  
Common Tern ◽  
Larus Argentatus ◽  
Herring Gull ◽  
Sterna Hirundo ◽  
Costs And Benefits ◽  
Mergus Serrator ◽  
Nesting Association

The costs and benefits to Red-breasted Mergansers (Mergus serrator) nesting in a Common Tern (Sterna hirundo) colony and a Herring Gull (Larus argentatus) and Great Black-backed Gull (L. marinus) colony were studied from 5 June to 17 August 1984 on islands off the east coast of New Brunswick. Merganser nests outside larid colonies were preyed upon significantly more than nests in the tern colony while no difference was found with nests in the gull colony. Nests in the tern colony were more densely concentrated and more likely to be abandoned. Clumped nests in the tern colony were not initiated in greater synchrony than dispersed nests. The merganser–gull nesting association is discussed. We postulate that the protective benefit for merganser nests in tern colonies accounts for the evolution of the nesting association.

scholarly journals The herring gull Larus argentatus as a likely transmitting agent of Salmonella montevideo to sheep and cattle

1983 ◽  
Vol 91 (3) ◽  
pp. 437-443 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. C. Coulson ◽  
J. Butterfield ◽  
C. Thomas
Keyword(s):  
Geographical Distribution ◽  
Feeding Behaviour ◽  
Circumstantial Evidence ◽  
Larus Argentatus ◽  
Herring Gull ◽  
Breeding Area ◽  
Original Source ◽  
Herring Gulls ◽  
Wintering Area

SUMMARYThis paper presents evidence for the involvement of herring gulls (Larus argentatus) as vectors in the recent outbreaks of Salmonella montevideo in sheep and cattle in Scotland and suggests that the transfer can take place over considerable distances. The breeding area in Scotland of herring gulls which overwinter in N.E. England is remarkably similar to the geographical distribution of the outbreaks. This pattern, together with the feeding behaviour of herring gulls on farmland, the presence of S. montevideo in herring gulls just before their departure from the wintering area and the timing of the return just before the peak of outbreaks are all circumstantial evidence implicating this gull in the outbreaks. The rapid return of these gulls to their breeding areas means that S. montevideo can be transported long distances in one day and raises the possibility that the original source of S. montevideo could have been in N. E. England rather than in Scotland.

Responsiveness of young herring gulls to stimuli from their own and other species: effects of training with food

1979 ◽  
Vol 57 (7) ◽  
pp. 1452-1457 ◽  
Author(s):  
Roger M. Evans
Keyword(s):  
Visual Stimulus ◽  
Normal Development ◽  
Larus Argentatus ◽  
Herring Gull ◽  
Vocal Responses ◽  
Herring Gulls ◽  
Species Effects ◽  
Initial Tendency ◽  
Food Conditioning

Young herring gulls (Larus argentatus) are known to emit vocalizations and approach their mew-calling parents when the latter return lo the colony with food for their chicks. In contrast, laboratory-reared young deprived of experience with adults approach and vocalize only rarely lo parental mew calls, although they will respond more strongly to the mew calls of two other species. These results suggest that posthatch experience, such as receipt of food from a calling parent, may be important for the normal development of responses to species typical calls. I tested the effects of food training by exposing young herring gulls, in the laboratory, lo mew calls during feedings. By 7 days of age, responses to herring gull calls increased significantly for young trained with these calls, and the initial tendency for the young to respond selectively to mew calls of the ring-billed gull (L. delawarensis) was reversed. Food training also influenced approach and vocal responses to a visual stimulus (my hand) used to deliver food. Results suggest that approach and vocal responses of young herring gulls may be strongly and adaptively influenced by food conditioning during the first few days after hatching.

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.

Heat loss from feet of herring gulls at rest and during flight

1976 ◽  
Vol 230 (4) ◽  
pp. 920-924 ◽  
Author(s):  
RV Baudinette ◽  
JP Loveridge ◽  
KJ Wilson ◽  
CD Mills ◽  
K Schmidt-Nielsen
Keyword(s):  
Blood Flow ◽  
Oxygen Consumption ◽  
Wind Tunnel ◽  
Heat Loss ◽  
Heat Production ◽  
Heat Dissipation ◽  
Larus Argentatus ◽  
Herring Gull ◽  
Herring Gulls

The role of the feet of herring gulls (Larus argentatus) in heat dissipation was estimated during rest and wind-tunnel flight. We determined the blood flow to the feet and the arteriovenous temperature difference and thus estimated heat loss from the feet. Determinations of oxygen consumption and respiratory water loss at rest gave a heat production of about 8 W; 37-56% of this heat was lost from the feet (air temp = 10-35 degrees C). During flight heat production was estimated to be about 57 W and heat loss from the feet was 46 W, about 80% of the heat production in flight. Thus the webbed feet are an important avenue of heat loss in the herring gull.

The effects of ice cover over the colony site on reproductive activities of herring gulls

1985 ◽  
Vol 63 (3) ◽  
pp. 607-611 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ralph D. Morris ◽  
John W. Chardine
Keyword(s):  
Lake Erie ◽  
Hatching Success ◽  
Thick Layer ◽  
Egg Laying ◽  
Larus Argentatus ◽  
Herring Gull ◽  
Herring Gulls ◽  
The Mean ◽  
Colony Site ◽  
Reproductive Activities

The substrate at a herring gull (Larus argentatus) colony on Lake Erie near Port Colborne, Ontario (Lighthouse), was completely covered by a thick layer of ice throughout April and early May 1982. Egg laying normally begins at this location in mid-April. An adjacent herring gull colony (Canada Furnace) was ice free. Herring gull pairs at the Lighthouse colony defended territories on top of the ice but only 3 of about 90 pairs built nests on the ice. Birds neither deserted the colony nor moved within it to ice-free areas as these became available. The mean date of egg laying at the Lighthouse colony in 1982 was about 2 weeks later than in the previous year. At the adjacent Canada Furnace colony, there was no difference in the mean date of egg laying between the 2 years. There were no differences in the distribution of clutch sizes, mean clutch sizes, or hatching success of three-egg clutches laid within ± 1 SD of the mean date of egg laying at either colony in the 2 years. By these measures, the ice-induced delay in breeding chronology of birds at the Lighthouse colony in 1982 did not adversely effect reproductive performance in that year.

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.

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