Seasonal interactions in the black-legged kittiwake, Rissa tridactyla: links between breeding performance and winter distribution

Abstract

Relationships between events in one period of the annual cycle and behaviour in subsequent seasons are key determinants of individual life histories and population dynamics. However, studying such associations is challenging, given the difficulties in following individuals across seasons, particularly in migratory species. Relationships between breeding performance and subsequent winter ecology are particularly poorly understood, yet are likely to be profoundly important because of the costs of reproduction. Using geolocation technology, we show that black-legged kittiwakes that experienced breeding failure left their colony in southeast Scotland earlier than successful breeders. Moreover, a greater proportion of unsuccessful breeders (94% versus 53% successful) travelled over 3000 km to the West Atlantic, whereas fewer visited the East Atlantic (31% versus 80% successful), less than 1000 km from the colony. The two groups did not differ in the timing of return to the colony the following spring. However, 58 per cent of males made a previously undescribed long-distance pre-breeding movement to the central Atlantic. Our results demonstrate important links between reproductive performance and winter distribution, with significant implications for population dynamics. Furthermore, macro-scale segregation associated with breeding outcome is relevant to defining important wintering areas, in particular among declining species experiencing increasingly regular breeding failure.

Figure 1.

(a) Fifty per cent density kernels of wintering kittiwakes that were successful (blue hatching; n = 15) or unsuccessful (red dots; n = 16) in the previous breeding season. Data are based on the whole wintering period except the time around the autumn and spring equinox (see §2). (b) Proportion of unsuccessful (open bars) and successful (filled bars) individuals that visited each major winter region. (c) Time spent in each region by unsuccessful (open circles) and successful (filled circles) females (mean ± s.e.). (d) Time spent in each region by unsuccessful (open circles) and successful (filled circles) males (mean ± s.e.).

Figure 2.

Routes taken during pre-breeding trips by 10 kittiwakes. Five further trips (by individuals 2, 16 and three others) occurred partly within the spring equinox period and cannot be displayed because latitudes are unreliable; however, they reached longitudes of between 29° W and 36° W, suggesting that they were to similar destinations.