Journal
CONDOR
Volume 106, Issue 2, Pages 410-415Publisher
OXFORD UNIV PRESS INC
DOI: 10.1650/7330
Keywords
Cepphus; demersal; foraging; pelagic provisioning; quality-variability trade-off; seabirds
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Low spatiotemporal variability in the abundance of nonschooling prey might allow Pigeon Guillemots (Cepphus columba) to maintain the high chick provisioning rates that are characteristic of the species. We tested predictions of this hypothesis with data collected with beach seines and scuba and hydroacoustic surveys in Kachemak Bay, Alaska, during 1996-1999. Coefficients of variability were 20-211 % greater for schooling than nonschooling prey on day, seasonal, and km scales. However, the proportion of schooling prey in chick diets explained relatively little variability in Pigeon Guillemot meal delivery rates at the scale of hours (r(2) = 0.07) and weeks (r(2) = 0.19). Behavioral adaptations such as flexible time budgets likely ameliorate the negative effects of high resource variability, but we propose that these adaptations are only effective when schooling prey are available at distances well below the maximum foraging range of the species.
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