Effects of Satellite Transmitters Fitted to Breeding Cory's Shearwaters

• Published in: The Journal of wildlife management Vol. 75; no. 3; pp. 709 - 714
• Main Authors: Villard, Pascal, Bonenfant, Christophe, Bretagnolle, Vincent
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Hoboken, USA The Wildlife Society 01.04.2011; John Wiley & Sons, Inc; Blackwell Publishing Ltd; Wiley
• Subjects: Animal behavior; Average linear density; Aviculture; Bird nesting; Birds; body growth; Breeding; Calonectris; Calonectris diomedea; Chicks; Corsica; Environmental Sciences; Feathers; Foraging; Life Sciences; meal mass; satellite transmitter; Sea birds; Transmitters; Wildlife management; foraging; Calonectris diomedea; Corsica; body growth; meal mass; satellite transmitter
• ISSN: 0022-541X; 1937-2817
• DOI: 10.1002/jwmg.90

We studied the effects of a new technique to fix satellite transmitters on the feeding behavior and chick body growth of the Cory's shearwater (Calonectris diomeded). Transmitters did not significantly affect the breeding bird's body mass or diving performance. However, on average, pairs with ≥1 adult equipped with a transmitter brought a lighter meal (54.8 ± 18.9 g) to nestlings than did control birds or the same pair with the transmitter removed (77.4 ± 8.3 g) leading to a decreased chick body growth. However at fledging, chicks in control and treatment groups had similar body mass whether parents were equipped with a PTT or not. Our method of transmitter attachment could therefore be an appropriate alternative for studying the ecology of procellariiforms weighing < 1 kg given that birds are fitted with transmitters for <2 weeks and restricted to 1 parent only.