Parental Nesting Behavior, Chick Growth and Breeding Success of Shoebills(Balaeniceps rex)in the Bangweulu Wetlands, Zambia

Waterbirds ◽  
2015 ◽  
Vol 38 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-22 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ralf H. E. Mullers ◽  
Arjun Amar
2016 ◽  
Vol 2 ◽  
Author(s):  
LARISA LEE-CRUZ ◽  
ANDREW A. CUNNINGHAM ◽  
PAMELA MARTÍNEZ ◽  
MARILYN CRUZ ◽  
SIMON J. GOODMAN ◽  
...  

SUMMARYPopulations of blue-footed boobies in the Galápagos Islands have declined by at least 50% compared with numbers recorded during the 1960s. Recently, concern has been expressed about potential adverse effects of introduced blood parasites; in particular, malarial parasites (i.e.Plasmodiumsp.), which are frequently pathogenic and can cause mortality and morbidity in birds, and blood parasites of the genusHaemoproteus, which can reduce fitness. We screened blue-footed boobies at six breeding colonies within Galápagos for both genera of parasite. At two sites, we also investigated whether there was any relationship between infection status and physiological condition or breeding success. We found a high prevalence ofHaemoproteusspp. in adults and chicks using PCR, although none was found on blood smears. We found no evidence ofPlasmodium.Effects of parasitism on the condition of birds were limited. Also, there was no evidence that infection withHaemoproteusadversely affected breeding success or chick growth. Our results suggest that poor success of breeding birds was not strongly associated withHaemoproteusinfection. However, regular colony monitoring and examination of dead birds are necessary to assess whether acuteHaemoproteusinfection might be responsible for some mortality, particularly of chicks.


The Condor ◽  
2002 ◽  
Vol 104 (3) ◽  
pp. 574 ◽  
Author(s):  
Juan F. Masello ◽  
Petra Quillfeldt

2007 ◽  
Vol 78 (4) ◽  
pp. 352-361 ◽  
Author(s):  
Antje Müllner ◽  
K. Eduard Linsenmair

2007 ◽  
Vol 55 (5) ◽  
pp. 267 ◽  
Author(s):  
T. M. Pyk ◽  
A. Bunce ◽  
F. I. Norman

The influence of age on reproductive success and diet was examined in ‘old’ (experienced; 12 years and older) and ‘young’ (5–8 years of age) Australasian gannets (Morus serrator) breeding at Pope’s Eye, Port Phillip Bay, Victoria during the 2002–2003 breeding period. Although food availability, as indicated by commercial fish catches, throughout this breeding period was low, there were no significant differences in breeding success or chick growth between groups. Nevertheless, old birds tended to have higher reproductive success, replacing more lost eggs and fledging chicks of a greater mass. However, old birds also laid more eggs that failed to hatch. Five fish species, including jack mackerel (Trachurus declivis), barracouta (Thyrsites atun), redbait (Emmelichthys nitidus), anchovy (Engraulis australis) and red mullet (Upeneichthys vlamingii), were important in the gannet diet during this breeding period. There were no significant differences in dietary parameters, including range of species and size of prey, between old and young gannets, nor were there any differences between those of the chicks and their parents, suggesting that adults do not forage selectively for their chicks. This study showed that even during a period of presumed low food availability, when experienced (older) birds might be expected to have enhanced success, the differences between these and less experienced (younger) birds may not be apparent.


The Condor ◽  
2002 ◽  
Vol 104 (3) ◽  
pp. 574-586 ◽  
Author(s):  
Juan F. Masello ◽  
Petra Quillfeldt

Abstract We present the first data on the breeding biology of wild Burrowing Parrots (Cyanoliseus patagonus). We studied chick growth and breeding success at the largest colony of the species in the province of Río Negro, Patagonia, Argentina, during the 1999–2000 breeding season. A very high fledging success was observed and related to the absence of nest predation and the colonial breeding system. Safe nest sites were also thought to favor large mass recession of the nestlings before fledging. Mortality during the nestling period tended to be higher for fourth and fifth nestlings of a brood, indicating that brood reduction occurred. Burrowing Parrots in the study colony showed large variability in growth parameters between nestlings, possibly related to the hatching asynchrony observed. Allometric relationships for egg mass, clutch size, relative clutch mass, and nestling period of 29 wild psittaciform species are described and compared with the data from the Burrowing Parrots. Desarrollo de los Pichones y Éxito de Nidificación de Cyanoliseus patagonus Resumen. Presentamos aquí los primeros datos de la biología reproductiva en estado silvestre del loro Cyanoliseus patagonus. Se estudió el crecimiento de los pichones y el éxito de nidificación en la colonia más importante de la especie (provincia de Río Negro, Patagonia, Argentina) durante la temporada de cría 1999–2000. Se observó un alto éxito de emplumamiento de los pichones relacionado a la ausencia de depredación en el nido y al sistema colonial de nidificación que presenta la especie. Los sitios de nidificación seguros habrían favorecido la pronunciada pérdida de masa corporal observada en los pichones antes de abandonar el nido. La mortalidad durante el período de nidificación tendió a ser más alta para el cuarto y quinto pichón de la nidada, indicando la existencia de reducción de la camada. Los loros de la colonia estudiada mostraron gran variabilidad en los parámetros de desarrollo de los distintos pichones, estando ésto posiblemente relacionado con el nacimiento asincrónico de los pichones. Se describen también relaciones alométricas para la masa del huevo, el tamaño de la nidada, la masa relativa de la nidada y el período de permanencia en el nido de 29 psittaciformes silvestres y se comparan con los datos de C. patagonus.


2020 ◽  
Vol 6 (26) ◽  
pp. eaba4828
Author(s):  
Yuuki Y. Watanabe ◽  
Kentaro Ito ◽  
Nobuo Kokubun ◽  
Akinori Takahashi

Population trends and breeding success variability of Adélie penguins, a bioindicator of Antarctic environments, have been attributed to changing sea-ice extents; however, causative mechanisms remain unclear. By electronically tagging 175 penguins in four seasons with contrasting sea-ice conditions, we show that ice-free environments enhance, not deteriorate, foraging efficiencies and breeding success. In an ice-free season, penguins traveled by swimming rather than walking, leading to larger foraging areas, shorter trip durations, and lower energy expenditure than three ice-covered seasons. Freed from the need to find cracks for breathing, dive durations decreased, and more krill were captured per unit dive time, which may also be associated with phytoplankton blooms and increased krill density in the sunlit ice-free water. Consequently, adult body mass, chick growth rates, and breeding success increased. Our findings explain the regional population trends and demonstrate a key link among sea ice, foraging behavior, and reproductive success in this iconic species.


1999 ◽  
Vol 77 (8) ◽  
pp. 1278-1287 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rachel Bryant ◽  
Ian L Jones ◽  
J Mark Hipfner

We quantified Common Murre (Uria aalge) and Thick-billed (Uria lomvia) Murre chick diets, chick-feeding rates, breeding success, chick growth, adult masses, and pair members' time spent together at site at the Gannet Islands, Labrador, in 1996 and 1997, after a decline in capelin (Mallotus villosus) abundance along the coast of southern and central Labrador. These results, with the exception of time spent at the site, were compared with those collected by other researchers at the Gannet Islands in 1981-1983, before the capelin decline. The two species responded similarly to the decline. After the decline, murres fed their chicks up to 75% fewer capelin and up to 65% more daubed shannies (Lumpenus maculatus). Feeding rates of both murre species varied among years, without respect to changes in the proportion of capelin. We found no evidence for declines in colony attendance, breeding success, chick growth, and adult mass. No data on time spent at the site were available before the decline in capelin abundance, but after the decline, off-duty murres of both species spent a mean of 10 min at their sites per feeding visit. This amount of time was short with respect to that recorded for Common Murres elsewhere, suggesting that murres' foraging effort at the Gannet Islands was high and buffered the effects of prey availability on other parameters measured. Taken together, our results suggest that murres responded to changing capelin abundance by changing their chicks' diet, but were otherwise little affected.


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