Every-other-day clutch-initiation synchrony in ring-billed gulls (Larus Delawarensis)

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

12-2016

Keywords

clutch initiation, egg laying, Fraser Darling effect, Larus delawarensis, Ring-billed Gull, Synchrony

Abstract

Fraser Darling suggested that reproductive synchrony enhances reproductive success of colonial seabirds as a result of predator satiation. However, the cost of yearly reproductive synchrony is high for colonial species for which intraspecific predation is the primary cause of egg and chick loss. A few studies indicate that egg-laying synchrony on a daily time scale within the annual breeding pulse may be an adaptive response to intraspecific predation. Here, we report every-other-day clutch-initiation synchrony in densely nesting cohorts of Ring-billed Gulls (Larus delawarensis). This is the second known case of clutch-initiation synchrony on a daily time scale in larids, the first being for Glaucous-winged Gulls (L. glaucescens). In both Ring-billed Gulls and Glaucous-winged Gulls, the degree of clutch-initiation synchrony is inversely related to nearest neighbor distance. Further studies are needed to test whether clutch-initiation synchrony in Ring-billed Gulls is adaptive in the presence of cannibalism, or if it is simply a neutral byproduct of colonial nesting.

Journal Title

Wilson Journal of Ornithology

Volume

128

Issue

4

First Page

760

Last Page

765

First Department

Biology

Link to Full Text

@ the James White Library

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