Journal
BEHAVIORAL ECOLOGY AND SOCIOBIOLOGY
Volume 63, Issue 12, Pages 1773-1785Publisher
SPRINGER
DOI: 10.1007/s00265-009-0801-y
Keywords
Predator-prey interactions; Ecological scale; Levy search pattern; Information Center Hypothesis; Thick-billed murre; Uria lomvia
Categories
Funding
- NSERC
- Andrew Taylor Northern Research Grant
- Mountain Equipment Co-op Studentship
- Arctic Institute of North America
- Malcolm Ramsay Award
- Frank M. Chapman Memorial Fund
- Society of Canadian Ornithologists/Bird Studies Canada Taverner
- Northern Scientific Training Program
- Canadian Wildlife Service Migratory Birds Division
- Polar Continental Shelf Project
- University of Manitoba
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How predators vary search patterns in response to prey predictability is poorly known. For example, marine invertebrates may be predictable but of low energy value, while fish may be of higher energy value but unpredictable at large (pelagic schools) or small (solitary benthics) spatial scales. We investigated the search patterns of the thickbilled murre (Uria lomvia), an Arctic seabird feeding on invertebrates, pelagic fish, or benthic fish. Foraging ranges at the Coats Island colony are generally smaller (<240 min per trip) than at larger colonies, and many birds specialize in foraging tactics and diet. Underwater search times for benthic fish were higher than for pelagic fish or invertebrates while above-water search times for pelagic fish were higher than for benthic fish or invertebrates. There were few stops during trips. Total trip time, flying time, number of flights, and number of dives were intercorrelated and increased with prey energy content, suggesting that longer trips involved fewer prey encounters due to selection of higher-quality, but rarer, prey items. Flight times were not Levy-distributed and seabirds may have used area-restricted searches. The high degree of specialization, apparent absence of information center effects, and reduced above-water searching times may be linked to the relatively small colony size and the resulting short commuting distances to feeding areas, leading to greater prey predictability. We concluded that prey predictability over various scales affected predator search patterns.
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