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Transition from Fledging to Independence in Red-footed Boobies

Author: GuoZuoZhao
Tutor: CaoLei
School: University of Science and Technology of China
Course: Ecology
Keywords: Fledgling foraging independence parental care post-fledging period Red-footed Booby Sula sula
CLC: Q958
Type: Master's thesis
Year: 2009
Downloads: 8
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Abstract


When and how fledglings become independent is an important issue in understanding the life history of long-lived seabirds. In this study, we investigated post-fledging care, development of foraging skills and the ultimate causes of independence in juvenile Red-footed Boobies (Sula sula) on Dong Island, Xisha Archipelago, northern South China Sea, during 2007 and 2008. After fledging, it took juveniles an average of 118 days to become independent; post-fledging survival rate was 96%. Post-fledging food supply from the parents was relatively greater than during the pre-fledging period, averaging 176 g per day, but declined significantly at the end of the post-fledging period. During the post-fledging period fledgling foraging trip duration increased progressively and was probably mainly used to develop foraging skills, because 94% of fledgling food supply came from parents and most self-foraging occurred from 60 days post-fledging onwards which was just adequate for survival at independence. Fledglings became independent when self-foraging was energetically more profitable than begging food from the parents, whilst parents significantly reduced the meal mass delivered to the fledgling when the fitness increment from new nesting exceeded that from attending their current young. Non-systematic checking of the natal nest area showed that at least 60% of fledglings still survived 20 to 84 days after independence, indicating that the strategy for achieving independence is successful. This is the first study to analyze quantitatively the independence ontogeny of a long-living seabird.

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CLC: > Biological Sciences > Zoology > Animal ecology and zoogeography
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