Volume 46, No. 1
Volumes > 38 (2010-->)
- Volume 52, No. 1, 2024
- Volume 51, No. 2, 2023
- Volume 51, No. 1, 2023
- Volume 50, No. 2, 2022
- Volume 50, No. 1, 2022
- Volume 49, No. 2, 2021
- Volume 49, No. 1, 2021
- Volume 48, No. 2, 2020
- Volume 48, No. 1, 2020
- Volume 47, No. 2, 2019
- Volume 47, No. 1, 2019
- Volume 46, No. 2, 2018
- Volume 46, No. 1, 2018
- Volume 45, No. 2, 2017
- Volume 45, No. 1, 2017
- Volume 44, No. 2, 2016
- Volume 44, No. 1, 2016
- Volume 43, No. 2, 2015
- Volume 43, No. 1, 2015
- Volume 42, No. 2, 2014
- Volume 42, No. 1, 2014
- Volume 41, No. 2, 2013
- Volume 41, No. 1, 2013
- Volume 41, Special Issue, 2013
- Volume 40, No. 2, 2012
- Volume 40, No. 1, 2012
- Volume 39, No. 2, 2011
- Volume 39, No. 1, 2011
- Volume 38, No. 2, 2010
- Volume 38, No. 1, 2010
Volumes 28-37 (2000-09)
- Volume 37, No. 3, 2009
- Volume 37, No. 2, 2009
- Volume 37, No. 1, 2009
- Volume 36, No. 2, 2008
- Volume 36, No. 1, 2008
- Volume 35, No. 2, 2007
- Volume 35, No. 1, 2007
- Volume 34, No. 2, 2006
- Volume 34, No. 1, 2006
- Volume 33, No. 2, 2005
- Volume 33, No. 1, 2005
- Volume 32, No. 2, 2004
- Volume 32, No. 1, 2004
- Volume 31, No. 2, 2003
- Volume 31, No. 1, 2003
- Volume 30, No. 2, 2002
- Volume 30, No. 1, 2002
- Volume 29, No. 2, 2001
- Volume 29, No. 1, 2001
- Volume 28, No. 2, 2000
- Volume 28, No. 1, 2000
Volumes 18-27 (1990-99)
- Volume 27, No. 1 & 2, 1999
- Volume 26, No. 1 & 2, 1998
- Volume 24, No. 1 & 2, 1996
- Volume 25, No. 1 & 2, 1997
- Volume 23, No. 2, 1995
- Volume 23, No. 1, 1995
- Volume 22, No. 2, 1994
- Volume 22, No. 1, 1994
- Volume 21, No. 1 & 2, 1993
- Volume 20, No. 1 & 2, 1992
- Volume 19, No. 1, 1991
- Volume 18, No. 1 & 2, 1990
Volumes 5-17 (1978-89) a.k.a 'Cormorant'
- Volume 17, No. 1 & 2, 1989
- Volume 16, No. 1, 1988
- Volume 16, No. 2, 1988
- Volume 15, No. 1 & 2, 1987
- Volume 14, No. 1 & 2, 1987
- Volume 13, No. 2, 1986
- Volume 13, No. 1, 1986
- Volume 12, No. 2, 1985
- Volume 12, No. 1, 1985
- Volume 11, No. 1 & 2, 1984
- Volume 10, No. 2, 1983
- Volume 10, No. 1, 1983
- Volume 9, No. 2, 1982
- Volume 9, No. 1, 1982
- Volume 8, No. 2, 1981
- Volume 8, No. 1, 1981
- Volume 7, 1980
- Volume 5, 1978
Search by author or title:
Possible drivers of nest usurpation in African Penguins Spheniscus demersus
Citation
TRAISNEL, G. & PICHEGRU, L. 2018. Possible drivers of nest usurpation in African Penguins Spheniscus demersus. Marine Ornithology 46: 85 - 88
Received 10 January 2018, accepted 27 February 2018
Date Published: 2018/4/15
Date Online: 2018/3/20
Key words: African Penguin, nest displacement, nest stealing, asynchrony
Abstract
Nest usurpation is a relatively common phenomenon in birds but remains poorly documented in penguins. This behaviour may advantage bolder and aggressive individuals and influence population dynamics by affecting breeding success. African Penguins Spheniscus demersus are aggressive towards conspecifics during the breeding season when competing for territory. However, nest usurpation is rarely observed in this species. We describe three records of nest usurpation in African Penguins from Bird Island, Algoa Bay (South Africa) in 2017. After a climate-related massive breeding failure, late breeders in search of a territory attacked occupants of earlier-breeding nests, sometimes leading to the death of their brood. These observations may be the consequence of an extreme weather event, which created a marked asynchrony in breeding stages in this specific year, with many birds tending chicks, while others were just beginning to look for territories. This mismatch provided the opportunity for particularly aggressive individuals to decrease the breeding output of less aggressive birds, thereby possibly influencing the species' population dynamics.
References
AINLEY, D.G. 1978. Activity patterns and social behavior of non-breeding Adélie penguins. Condor 80 (2): 138-146. doi: 10.2307/1367913.
Campbell, K.J., Farah, D., Collins, S. & Parsons, N.J. 2016. Sex determination of African Penguins Spheniscus demersus using bill measurements: method comparisons and implications for use. Ostrich 87 (1): 47-55. doi: 10.2989/00306525.2015.1108371.
CARRASCAL, L.M., MORENO, J. & AMAT, J.A. 1995. Nest maintenance and stone theft in the Chinstrap penguin (Pygoscelis antarctica). Polar Biology 15(8): 541-545. doi: 10.1007/BF00239645.
CHEREL, Y., MAUGET, R., LACROIX, A. & GILLES, J. 1994. Seasonal and fasting-related changes in circulating gonadal steroids and prolactin in king penguins, Aptenodytes patagonicus. Physiological Zoology 67 (5): 1154-1173. doi: 10.1086/physzool.67.5.30163887.
CÔTÉ, S.D. 2000. Aggressiveness in king penguins in relation to reproductive status and territory location. Animal Behaviour 59 (4): 813-821. doi: 10.1006/anbe.1999.1384.
CRAWFORD, R.J., SHANNON, L.J. & WHITTINGTON, P.A. 1999. Population dynamics of the African Penguin Spheniscus demersus at Robben Island, South Africa. Marine Ornithology 27: 139-147.
Eggleton, P. & Siegfried, W.R. 1979. Displays of the jackass penguin. Ostrich 50(3): 139-167. doi: 10.1080/00306525.1979.9634105.
FARGALLO, J.A., DE LEÓN, A. & POTTI, J. 2001. Nest-maintenance effort and health status in chinstrap penguins, Pygoscelis antarctica: the functional significance of stone-provisioning behaviour. Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology 50 (2): 141-150. doi: 10.1007/s002650100341.
FROST, P.G.H., SIEGFRIED, W.R. & BURGER, A.E. 1976a. Behavioural adaptations of the Jackass Penguin, Spheniscus demersus to a hot, arid environment. Journal of Zoology 179 (2): 165-187. doi: 10.1111/j.1469-7998.1976.tb02289.x.
FROST, P.G.H., SIEGFRIED, W.R. & COOPER, J. 1976b. Conservation of the jackass penguin (Spheniscus demersus (L.)). Biological Conservation 9 (2): 79-99. doi: 10.1016/0006-3207(76)90042-2.
GRACE, J.K. & ANDERSON, D.J. 2014. Personality correlates with contextual plasticity in a free-living, long-lived seabird. Behaviour 151 (9): 1281-1311. doi: 10.1163/1568539X-00003185.
LEFFELAAR, D. & ROBERTSON, R.J. 1985. Nest usurpation and female competition for breeding opportunities by tree swallows. Wilson Bulletin 97 (2): 221-224.
LEI, B.R., GREEN, J.A. & PICHEGRU, L. 2014. Extreme microclimate conditions in artificial nests for endangered African Penguins. Bird Conservation International 24(2): 201-213. doi: 10.1017/S0959270913000671.
MAINWARING, M.C. & HARTLEY, I.R. 2013. The energetic costs of nest building in birds. Avian Biology Research 6 (1): 12-17. doi: 10.3184/175815512X13528994072997.
McINNES, A.M., SUAREZ, N., RISHWORTH, G.M., GREEN, D.B., PISTORIUS, P.A. & PICHEGRU, L. 2014. Lumbering the gauntlet: Cape Gannet fledglings killed by African Penguins. Ostrich 85 (2): 193-196. doi: 10.2989/00306525.2014.955143.
McINNES, A.M., RYAN, P.G., LACERDA, M., DESHAYES, J., GOSCHEN, W.S. & PICHEGRU, L. 2017. Small pelagic fish responses to fine-scale oceanographic conditions: implications for the endangered African penguin. Marine Ecology Progress Series 569: 187-203. doi: 10.3354/meps12089.
MONTGOMERIE, R.D. & WEATHERHEAD, P.J. 1988. Risks and rewards of nest defence by parent birds. Quarterly Review of Biology 63(2): 167. doi: 10.1086/415838.
MORENO, J., BUSTAMANTE, J. & VIÑUELA, J. 1995. Nest maintenance and stone theft in the chinstrap penguin (Pygoscelis antarctica). Polar Biology 15 (8): 533-540. doi: 10.1007/BF00239644.
PARMESAN, C., ROOT, T.L. & WILLIG, M.R. 2000. Impacts of extreme weather and climate on terrestrial biota. Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society 81 (3): 443-450. doi: 10.1175/1520-0477(2000)081<0443:IOEWAC>2.3.CO;2.
PÉREZ-GRANADOS, C. & LÓPEZ-IBORRA, G.M. 2015. Nest failure owing to intraspecific agonistic behaviour in Dupont's Lark Chersophilus duponti. Ornithological Science 14(2): 117-121. doi: 10.2326/osj.14.117.
PICHEGRU, L., RYAN, P.G., VAN EEDEN, R., REID, T., GRÉMILLET, D. & WANLESS, R. 2012. Industrial fishing, no-take zones and endangered penguins. Biological Conservation 156: 117-125. doi: 10.1016/j.biocon.2011.12.013.
RANDALL, R.M. & RANDALL, B.M. 1981. The annual cycle of the jackass penguin Spheniscus demersus at St Croix Island, South Africa. Proceedings of the Symposium on Birds of the Sea and Shore. Cape Town. pp. 427-450.
SCHREIBER, E.A. & BURGER, J. 2002. Seabirds in the marine environment. In: SCHREIBER, E.A. & BURGER, J. (Eds.) Biology of Marine Birds. Marine Biology Series Boca Raton LA: CRC Press. pp. 1-15.
SEDDON, P.J. & VAN HEEZIK, Y. 1991. Effects of hatching order, sibling asymmetries, and nest site on survival analysis of Jackass Penguin chicks. Auk 108 (3): 548-555. doi: 10.2307/4088094.
SEDDON, P.J. & VAN HEEZIK, Y. 1993. Chick creching and intraspecific aggression in the jackass penguin (Conglomerado de pichones y agresión intraespecífica en Spheniscus demersus). Journal of Field Ornithology 64: 90-95.
SHERLEY, R.B., BARHAM, B.J., BARHAM, P.J., LESHORO, T.M. & UNDERHILL, L.G. 2012. Artificial nests enhance the breeding productivity of African Penguins (Spheniscus demersus) on Robben Island, South Africa. Emu 112 (2): 97-106. doi: 10.1071/MU11055.
SUMASGUTNER, P., MILLÁN, J., CURTIS, O., KOELSAG, A. & AMAR, A. (2016). Is multiple nest building an adequate strategy to cope with inter-species nest usurpation? BMC Evolutionary Biology 16 (1): 97. doi: 10.1186/s12862-016-0671-7.
TRAISNEL, G. & PICHEGRU, L. 2018. Does it always pay to defend one's nest? A case study in African penguin. Ethology 124 (1): 74-83. doi: 10.1111/eth.12704.
WILLIAMS, T.D. 1992. Reproductive endocrinology of macaroni (Eudyptes chrysolophus) and gentoo (Pygoscelis papua) penguins: I. Seasonal changes in plasma levels of gonadal steroids and LH in breeding adults. General and Comparative Endocrinology 85(2): 230-240. doi: 10.1016/0016-6480(92)90006-6.