Movement patterns of foraging common terns (Sterna hirundo) breeding in an urban environment in coastal Virginia.

ABSTRACT: Nesting colonial seabirds are prime examples of central-place foragers, animals that must return to a central location (e.g., a breeding colony) after each bout of foraging. They must balance the costs and benefits of foraging with the need to return to their colonies frequently to form pair bonds during courtship, incubate, provision mates and offspring, and protect and rear young. For some populations, the loss and degradation of suitable breeding habitat due to human activities have necessitated the construction of new breeding sites and/or the restoration of previously occupied sites. South Island, which is part of the Hampton Roads Bridge-Tunnel (HRBT) complex in the Commonwealth of Virginia, U.S.A., is a human-created island that supported Virginia's largest mixed species seabird col

SUBMITTER: Catlin DH 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11238962 | biostudies-literature | 2024

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature