How to translate text using browser tools
1 March 2017 Sex-specific foraging during parental care in a size-monomorphic seabird, the Australasian Gannet (Morus serrator)
S. M. H. Ismar, D. Raubenheimer, S. J. Bury, C. D. Millar, M. E. Hauber
Author Affiliations +
Abstract

Sex differences in foraging behavior are typically studied in size-dimorphic taxa. Data on sex-specific behavior in monomorphic taxa are needed to test theories of reproductive investment. It has been suggested that in seabirds foraging niche separation may be related to decreased intersexual competition for food between cooperating pair-bonded individuals. Alternatively, sex differences in foraging niches may be driven by different nutritional requirements of females associated with the reproductive costs of egg production and oviposition. To assess these possibilities, we studied a size-monomorphic colonial seabird, the Australasian Gannet (Morus serrator) at the Cape Kidnappers gannetry, New Zealand. We recorded maximum dive depths, and distinct diet composition of incubating females as indicated by stable isotopic signatures. Results suggested greater female foraging effort during early times of incubation, indicated by significantly deeper maximum dives. Sex-specific foraging patterns across other breeding stages were more variable. Nitrogen stable isotopic values showed that incubating females occupied a different trophic position compared to males at the same breeding stage, and also from those of gannets of both sexes at later stages of parental care. Overall, the data are consistent with cost-of-oviposition compensation in females necessitating male-bias in parental care in biparental breeders. Further research is needed to unravel the implications of nutritional needs for the evolution of sex differences in behavior in this and other monomorphic taxa.

S. M. H. Ismar, D. Raubenheimer, S. J. Bury, C. D. Millar, and M. E. Hauber "Sex-specific foraging during parental care in a size-monomorphic seabird, the Australasian Gannet (Morus serrator)," The Wilson Journal of Ornithology 129(1), 139-147, (1 March 2017). https://doi.org/10.1676/1559-4491-129.1.139
Received: 31 May 2015; Accepted: 1 March 2016; Published: 1 March 2017
KEYWORDS
Australasian Gannet
behavioral dimorphism
breeding ecology
Morus serrator
parental investment
sex bias
RIGHTS & PERMISSIONS
Get copyright permission
Back to Top