English (United Kingdom)

https://curated-unify.zendy.io/wp-json/zendy-region/v1/featured_content/oa?rat=en

https://curated-unify.zendy.io/wp-json/zendy-region/v1/highlighted_journal/

Global: Zendy Plus annual

Presents the access of premium content as premium feature

Premium Content

Presents the keyphrase highlighting as premium feature

Keyphrase Highlighting

Presents the summarisation as premium feature

Summarisation

Insights

Presents the pdf analysis as premium feature

PDF Analysis

Presents the zaia usage as premium feature

ZAIA

Global: Zendy Tools annual

Global: Zendy Free Plan

Global: Zendy Tools monthly

Global: Zendy Plus monthly

Seabirds foraging on pelagic fish develop behavioral strategies specifically adapted to locate inconspicuous prey that are aggregated in spatially dynamic patches. In the marine environment, they may use various mechanisms to detect cues of prey availability. The aggregation of predators at a patch of food is a particularly obvious cue to locate prey, a mechanism known as local enhancement. Pioneering studies described the formation of foraging groups at sea, showing that seabirds are attracted to feeding conspecifics. Improved foraging success due to local enhancement has been suggested from modeling studies, but no direct validation of these results exists. We deployed video cameras concomitantly with GPS loggers on Cape gannets to study the behavioral responses of equipped birds to the aggregation of predators at food patches. We showed that the reaction distances of equipped birds increased with the size of an aggregation, demonstrating that predator aggregations enhance food detectability for foragers. For small aggregations (<50 gannets), reaction distances were mostly less than 10 km, and they increased up to almost 40 km for larger aggregations (100–150 gannets). In addition, we showed that the number and frequency of dives increased with the number of conspecifics aggregated, up to a threshold. The predator aggregations on a patch of food could, therefore, not only inform about the presence of prey but also entail information about foraging conditions. From direct observations on the various components involved, our study provides justification of the use and advantages of local enhancement in foraging seabirds.

Local enhancement in a seabird: reaction distances and foraging consequence of predator aggregations