Increased summer food supply decreases non-breeding movement in black-legged kittiwakes.

ABSTRACT: Individual condition at one stage of the annual cycle is expected to influence behaviour during subsequent stages, yet experimental evidence of food-mediated carry-over effects is scarce. We used a food supplementation experiment to test the effects of food supply during the breeding season on migration phenology and non-breeding behaviour. We provided an unlimited supply of fish to black-legged kittiwakes (Rissa tridactyla) during their breeding season on Middleton Island, Alaska, monitored reproductive phenology and breeding success, and used light-level geolocation to observe non-breeding behaviour. Among successful breeders, fed kittiwakes departed the colony earlier than unfed controls. Fed kittiwakes travelled less than controls during the breeding season, contracting their no

SUBMITTER: Whelan S 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7013485 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature