Flexible flight response to challenging wind conditions in a commuting Antarctic seabird: do you catch the drift?

• Published in: Animal behaviour Vol. 113; pp. 99 - 112
• Main Authors: Tarroux, Arnaud, Weimerskirch, Henri, Wang, Sheng-Hung, Bromwich, David H., Cherel, Yves, Kato, Akiko, Ropert-Coudert, Yan, Varpe, Øystein, Yoccoz, Nigel G., Descamps, Sébastien
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: London Elsevier Ltd 01.03.2016; Harcourt Brace Jovanovich Ltd; Elsevier
• Subjects: airspeed; altitude; Animal behavior; Antarctic region; Antarctica; Aquatic birds; Birds; breeding; breeding season; Breeding seasons; central-place foraging; Commuting; drift; Environmental conditions; Environmental Sciences; flight; Flight behavior; flight height; flying tactics; foraging; Foraging behavior; global positioning systems; Hypothesis testing; Nesting; orientation; Procellariidae; Procellariiformes; seabirds; Thalassoica antarctica; Wind; wind speed; Antarctica; Antarctic region; flight height; flying tactics; orientation; central-place foraging; Procellariiformes; airspeed; drift

Flight is intrinsically an energetically costly way of moving and birds have developed morphological, physiological and behavioural adaptations to minimize these costs. Central-place foraging seabirds commute regularly between nesting and foraging areas, providing us with opportunities to investigat...