Evidence of philopatry and natal dispersal in Humboldt Penguins
Alejandro Simeone A C and Roberta S. Wallace B
+ Author Affiliations
- Author Affiliations
A Universidad Andres Bello, Facultad de Ecologia y Recursos Naturales, Departamento de Ecologia y Biodiversidad, Republica 470, Santiago, Chile.
B Milwaukee County Zoo, 10001 West Blue Mound Road, Milwaukee, WI 53226, USA.
C Corresponding author. Email: asimeone@unab.cl
Emu 114(1) 69-73 https://doi.org/10.1071/MU13021
Submitted: 10 July 2012 Accepted: 5 June 2013 Published: 24 September 2013
Abstract
We report evidence of both philopatry and natal dispersal in Humboldt Penguins (Spheniscus humboldti) from a colony in central Chile. Between 1994 and 2001, we tagged 241 Humboldt Penguin chicks with subcutaneous transponder chips. Seven birds (3%) were found as adults at their natal colony: five were breeding (philopatric birds) and two were prospecting for nest-sites. Another four birds (2%) were found breeding at other colonies up to 90 km from the natal colony. Philopatric birds bred at 3.6– 6.1 years old (mean ± s.d. = 4.8 ± 1 years) at nests located 5–80 m from their natal nests (30 ± 25 m). Most philopatric and the prospecting birds used the same types of nests as their natal ones and we suggest that birds breeding for the first time may use cues of structural aspects of their natal nest when choosing a nesting site for the first time.
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