Seasonal Variation in Parental Care Drives Sex-Specific Foraging by a Monomorphic Seabird.

ABSTRACT: Evidence of sex-specific foraging in monomorphic seabirds is increasing though the underlying mechanisms remain poorly understood. We investigate differential parental care as a mechanism for sex-specific foraging in monomorphic Common Murres (Uria aalge), where the male parent alone provisions the chick after colony departure. Using a combination of geolocation-immersion loggers and stable isotopes, we assess two hypotheses: the reproductive role specialization hypothesis and the energetic constraint hypothesis. We compare the foraging behavior of females (n = 15) and males (n = 9) during bi-parental at the colony, post-fledging male-only parental care and winter when parental care is absent. As predicted by the reproductive role specialization hypothesis, we found evidence of sex-specifi

SUBMITTER: Burke CM 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4648532 | biostudies-literature | 2015

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature