Foraging Effort and Pre-laying Strategy in Breeding Common Eiders

To face energetic demands of reproduction, female birds need to build up body reserves before breeding and/or feed while producing eggs and incubating. Five female Common Eiders were implanted with data loggers that recorded flying and diving activity for a year. The pre-laying period, defined as the interval between the end of spring migration and laying of the first egg, extended over eleven to 27 days and represented a period of intense foraging activity. Daily time spent diving (DTSD) during the pre-laying period averaged 159.6 +/- 16.0 min compared to an annual average of 91.4 +/- 37.8 min. Diving decreased to 69.8 +/- 7.4 min during laying and became almost negligible at the onset of incubation. Females showed hyperphagic behavior during follicular growth, suggesting that they may directly utilize ingested food for egg production and laying. Given the small number of instrumented females, available evidence was reviewed on foraging and time of arrival in various populations and subspecies. Despite large variations in migration distance, the pre-laying period was similar to other populations (16-28 days), as well as DTSD (160-211 min). Reduced take-off capability may constrain the timing of accumulation of body reserves and foraging effort. Further, the level of body mass required for nesting (laying and incubation) was estimated to be 543 g higher than in winter, of which about 41-72% would be accumulated on the breeding grounds. Protection of foraging areas during the pre-breeding period is important to maintain healthy populations. Received 2 March 2009, accepted 19 March 2010.