Amb motiu del tancament d'estiu, la validació de documents es reprendrà a partir del 28 d'agost de 2026. Disculpeu les molèsties.
Con motivo del cierre de verano, la validación de documentos se reanudará a partir del 28 de agosto de 2026. Disculpad las molestias
Due to the summer closure, document validation will resume starting August 28, 2026. We apologize for any inconvenience.

Files

561137.pdf (355.91 KB)

Document type

Article

Version

Published version

Publication date

2009

All rights reserved

Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/2445/61305

Environmental determinants of foraging strategies in Cory"s shearwaters Calonectris diomedea

Journal Title

Authors

Director/Tutor

Journal ISSN

Volume Title

Related resource

http://dx.doi.org/10.3354/meps07880

Abstract

Despite the advent of devices to track seabird movements, the extent to which productive areas and oceanic winds influence foraging strategies is still not fully understood. We investigated the main environmental determinants of foraging strategies in Cory"s shearwaters Calonectris diomedea by combining satellite-tracking information from 14 birds breeding on the Canary Islands with concurrent data on chlorophyll a (chl a) concentrations and oceanic winds. Additionally, we took blood samples at the end of each foraging trip and analysed carbon (C) and nitrogen (N) stable isotopes to examine the use of trophic resources. All birds showed commuting trips, concentrating foraging activity exclusively on the African continental shelf. Foraging locations showed a strong association with chl a concentrations, suggesting birds select foraging areas according to prey availability. In contrast with other breeding colonies where Cory"s shearwaters use a dual-foraging method, birds showed a unimodal strategy and did not show differences in C and N isotope signatures in plasma, confirming that close proximity to highly productive areas strongly influences foraging strategies. In addition, birds tracked during 2 consecutive trips foraged in the same area, suggesting that high resource availability promotes fidelity to feeding grounds also at coarse scales. Persistent northeast trade winds blew during the study period, and commuting trips followed a consistent clockwise movement with a southwest heading while the birds foraged along the continental shelf, suggesting that birds used tail winds to reduce their flying costs. Our results corroborate that oceanographic conditions in the vicinity of the breeding colony have a strong effect on foraging strategies of pelagic seabirds.

Subject

Ocells marins, Ecologia animal, Nutrició animal, Etologia

Subject (English)

Sea birds, Animal ecology, Animal nutrition, Animal behavior

Citation

Collections

Articles publicats en revistes (Biologia Evolutiva, Ecologia i Ciències Ambientals)
Articles publicats en revistes (Biologia Cel·lular, Fisiologia i Immunologia)

Citation

NAVARRO BERNABÉ, Joan and GONZÁLEZ-SOLÍS, Jacob. Environmental determinants of foraging strategies in Cory"s shearwaters Calonectris diomedea. Marine Ecology Progress Series. 2009. Vol. 378, num. 259-267. ISSN 0171-8630. [consulted: 17 of August of 2026]. Available at: https://hdl.handle.net/2445/61305

Export metadata

JSON - METS

Share record