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ESR 55:155-167 (2024)  -  DOI: https://doi.org/10.3354/esr01370

Age-related spatial ecology of Audouin’s gull during the non-breeding season

Raquel Ponti1,2,3,*, Virginia Morera-Pujol4,5, Ángel Sallent6, Jacob González-Solís4,5, Raül Ramos4,5

1Centro de Investigação em Biodiversidade e Recursos Genéticos (CIBIO-InBio), Laboratório Associado, University of Porto, Campus Agrário de Vairão, 4485-661 Vairão, Portugal
2BIOPOLIS Program in Genomics, Biodiversity and Land Planning, CIBIO, Campus de Vairão, 4485-661 Vairão, Portugal
3Departamento de Biología Vegetal y Ecología, Universidad del País Vasco/Euskal Herriko Unibertsitatea (UPV/EHU), Leioa, Bizkaia, Spain
4Departament de Biologia Evolutiva, Ecologia i Ciències Ambientals, Facultat de Biologia, Universitat de Barcelona (UB), Av. Diagonal 643, 08028 Barcelona, Spain
5Institut de Recerca de la Biodiversitat (IRBio), Universitat de Barcelona (UB), Barcelona, Spain
6Asociación de Naturalistas del Sureste (ANSE). Pza. Pintor José María Párraga n°11, 30002 Murcia, Spain
*Corresponding author:

ABSTRACT: For vulnerable and endangered migratory species, an important and often overlooked aspect of conservation is their non-breeding distributions. For long-lived species, an additional constraint is the lack of data on juvenile movements. Individual relationships between age, movement ecology, and habitat preference for long-lived migratory birds remain understudied. According to the exploration-refinement hypothesis, adults should select better and more productive areas for foraging than inexperienced juveniles. Here, we explored the differences in migratory patterns, habitat selection, and foraging behaviour between juvenile and adult Audouin’s gulls Ichthyaetus audouinii, a species listed as Vulnerable by the IUCN. We captured 4 juveniles and 6 adults in the San Pedro colony (SE Spain) and equipped them with high-resolution 5 min programmed GPS loggers to track their postnuptial or first migration and subsequent non-breeding destinations. Our findings show that juveniles tended to migrate longer distances than adults, that the time spent foraging between age groups did not differ, and that adults used a greater variety of habitats than juveniles and positively selected some foraging habitats, such as waterbodies. Age-related differences in migratory patterns and habitat exploitation during the non-breeding period can be explained by the avoidance of competition between juveniles and adults and the adults’ greater experience in foraging performance. Our results bring important insights into the age-related differences in habitat exploitation of a Vulnerable seabird, which could help improve conservation strategies across its non-breeding range.


KEY WORDS: Canary Current · First-year movements · Foraging behaviour · Habitat use · Ichthyaetus audouinii · Juvenile migration · Migratory gull · North-west African seabirds · Wintering season


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Cite this article as: Ponti R, Morera-Pujol V, Sallent Á, González-Solís J, Ramos R (2024) Age-related spatial ecology of Audouin’s gull during the non-breeding season. Endang Species Res 55:155-167. https://doi.org/10.3354/esr01370

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