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Winter foraging site fidelity of king penguins breeding at the Falkland Islands

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Abstract

Foraging site fidelity has profound consequences for individual fitness, population processes and the effectiveness of species conservation measures. Accordingly, quantifying site fidelity has become increasingly important in animal movement and habitat selection studies. To assess foraging site fidelity in king penguins (Aptenodytes patagonicus) breeding at the Falkland Islands (51.48°S, 57.83°W), we measured overlap in time spent in foraging areas (at a 0.1° × 0.1° grid resolution) between successive foraging trips and foraging route consistency during the crèche period. In total, 30 complete foraging trips from seven king penguins were recorded between April and October 2010. King penguins predominantly foraged on the highly productive Patagonian slope, to the north of the Falkland Islands [median foraging trip distance 213 km (SD = 215 km) and duration 12.8 days (SD = 14.7 days)]. Overlap in time spent in an area on consecutive foraging trips ranged between 2 and 73 % (mean 27 %, SD = 22 %). Bearing during the outbound portion of foraging trips was typically highly repeatable for individual birds, but foraging trip duration and distance were not. Travel during the outbound phase of foraging trips was consistent with the direction of the northward-flowing Falkland Current that may act as a directional cue or facilitate rapid transit to foraging areas. Flexibility in foraging trip distances and durations may be a response to changes in resource availability and changes in the energetic requirements of adults and chicks over an extended breeding cycle.

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Acknowledgments

Research was undertaken with support from the World Wildlife Fund. We thank C. Dockrill for securing funding, S. Adlard, S. Crofts and M. Reeves for assisting with field work and J. Cheek for granting access to Volunteer Point. We are grateful to three anonymous reviewers that improved earlier drafts of the manuscript. Research was conducted under the Falkland Islands Government research permit R18/2011.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Centre for Integrative Ecology, School of Life and Environmental Sciences, Deakin University, PO Box 423, Warrnambool, VIC, 3280, Australia

    Alastair M. M. Baylis

  2. Falklands Conservation, Stanley, FIQQ1ZZ, Falkland Islands

    Alastair M. M. Baylis

  3. South Atlantic Environmental Research Institute, Stanley Cottage, Stanley, FIQQ1ZZ, Falkland Islands

    Alastair M. M. Baylis & Paul Brickle

  4. Department of Ocean Sciences, Long Marine Lab, University of California Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz, CA, 95060, USA

    Rachael A. Orben

  5. DST/NRF Centre of Excellence at the Percy FitzPatrick Institute of African Ornithology, Department of Zoology, Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University, South Campus, Port Elizabeth, 6031, South Africa

    Pierre Pistorius

  6. British Antarctic Survey NERC, High Cross, Madingley Road, Cambridge, CB3 0ET, UK

    Iain Staniland & Norman Ratcliffe

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  1. Alastair M. M. Baylis
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  2. Rachael A. Orben
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Correspondence to Alastair M. M. Baylis.

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Communicated by S. Garthe.

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Table 4 Published data on king penguin foraging trip distances and durations over autumn and winter
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Baylis, A.M.M., Orben, R.A., Pistorius, P. et al. Winter foraging site fidelity of king penguins breeding at the Falkland Islands. Mar Biol 162, 99–110 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00227-014-2561-0

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