On the behaviour in an alarm-evoking, constant stimulus situation in a „natural experiment“.—Observations on a pair of Herring Gulls(Larus argentatus) and Common Terns(Sterna hirundo) breeding on the same islet

1970 ◽  
Vol 111 (1) ◽  
pp. 48-53 ◽  
Author(s):  
Olof Rydén
Keyword(s):  
Natural Experiment ◽  
Constant Stimulus ◽  
Larus Argentatus ◽  
Sterna Hirundo ◽  
Stimulus Situation ◽  
Herring Gulls ◽  
Common Terns

Herring Gulls and Common Terns as Possible Predators of Lobster Larvae

1957 ◽  
Vol 14 (5) ◽  
pp. 729-730 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. H. Mills
Keyword(s):  
Common Tern ◽  
Larus Argentatus ◽  
Herring Gull ◽  
Sterna Hirundo ◽  
Herring Gulls ◽  
Common Terns

Herring gulls (Larus argentatus) and common terns (Sterna hirundo) were collected in the southern Gulf of St. Lawrence when lobster larvae were abundant. No lobster larvae were found in 36 herring gull stomachs and only one in 15 common tern stomachs.

scholarly journals Characteristics of Predators and Offspring Influence Nest Defense by Arctic and Common Terns

The Condor ◽  
2000 ◽  
Vol 102 (2) ◽  
pp. 301-306 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rebecca M. Whittam ◽  
Marty L. Leonard
Keyword(s):  
Parental Care ◽  
Nest Defense ◽  
Larus Argentatus ◽  
Costs And Benefits ◽  
Critical Aspect ◽  
Herring Gulls ◽  
Common Terns ◽  
Sterna Paradisaea ◽  
Response Score

Abstract Nest defense is a critical aspect of parental care that entails both costs and benefits. The purpose of this study was to examine patterns of nest defense in a colony of Arctic and Common Terns (Sterna paradisaea and S. hirundo, respectively) using observations of natural predators: Herring Gulls (Larus argentatus) and Great Black-backed Gulls (L. marinus). Tern nest-defense scores were higher for hunting gulls than for overflying gulls and for gull flights closer to the ground. Defense scores also were significantly higher during the chick stage than during the egg stage. Within the chick stage, response score initially increased with age, but then declined. The results of this study indicate that terns vary their defense in relation to characteristics of predators and offspring that influence the costs and benefits of defense.

scholarly journals The herring gull Larus argentatus as a likely transmitting agent of Salmonella montevideo to sheep and cattle

1983 ◽  
Vol 91 (3) ◽  
pp. 437-443 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. C. Coulson ◽  
J. Butterfield ◽  
C. Thomas
Keyword(s):  
Geographical Distribution ◽  
Feeding Behaviour ◽  
Circumstantial Evidence ◽  
Larus Argentatus ◽  
Herring Gull ◽  
Breeding Area ◽  
Original Source ◽  
Herring Gulls ◽  
Wintering Area

SUMMARYThis paper presents evidence for the involvement of herring gulls (Larus argentatus) as vectors in the recent outbreaks of Salmonella montevideo in sheep and cattle in Scotland and suggests that the transfer can take place over considerable distances. The breeding area in Scotland of herring gulls which overwinter in N.E. England is remarkably similar to the geographical distribution of the outbreaks. This pattern, together with the feeding behaviour of herring gulls on farmland, the presence of S. montevideo in herring gulls just before their departure from the wintering area and the timing of the return just before the peak of outbreaks are all circumstantial evidence implicating this gull in the outbreaks. The rapid return of these gulls to their breeding areas means that S. montevideo can be transported long distances in one day and raises the possibility that the original source of S. montevideo could have been in N. E. England rather than in Scotland.

Habitat and breeding cycle of the Least Sandpiper (Calidris minutilla) on Sable Island, Nova Scotia

1983 ◽  
Vol 61 (12) ◽  
pp. 2880-2898 ◽  
Author(s):  
Edward H. Miller
Keyword(s):  
Nova Scotia ◽  
Parental Behavior ◽  
Late Summer ◽  
Species Range ◽  
Larus Argentatus ◽  
Breeding Cycle ◽  
Herring Gulls ◽  
Egg Incubation ◽  
Breeding Failure

Sable Island, Nova Scotia, is the southernmost significant nesting area of the Least Sandpiper. Many birds nest around a single pond complex, which supports a lush vegetation that is heavily grazed by horses. Nests occur there and in nearby dry, sparsely vegetated habitat. Birds start arriving by mid-May (males first), and clutches (including replacement clutches) are completed in a period of 4–5 weeks, from late May to late June. Most eggs are laid in the morning, at intervals averaging 1.2 days. Incubation increases gradually through laying and is ~100% beginning with the last egg. Incubation lasts 20–21 days. Nest and chick mortality is high, mostly due to predation by Herring Gulls (Larus argentatus). Mortality of siblings is contagious. Females which nest successfully begin to migrate south by late June, followed by successful males in early July; individuals of both sexes are seen for about 3 days after the completion of parental behavior. Unsuccessful breeders leave earlier, and fledglings later. On average, males are seen for about 10 days and females for about 7 days following final breeding failure. Adults and fledglings tend to flock assortatively in late summer. General features of the breeding cycle seem to be highly conservative throughout the species' range.

Responsiveness of young herring gulls to stimuli from their own and other species: effects of training with food

1979 ◽  
Vol 57 (7) ◽  
pp. 1452-1457 ◽  
Author(s):  
Roger M. Evans
Keyword(s):  
Visual Stimulus ◽  
Normal Development ◽  
Larus Argentatus ◽  
Herring Gull ◽  
Vocal Responses ◽  
Herring Gulls ◽  
Species Effects ◽  
Initial Tendency ◽  
Food Conditioning

Young herring gulls (Larus argentatus) are known to emit vocalizations and approach their mew-calling parents when the latter return lo the colony with food for their chicks. In contrast, laboratory-reared young deprived of experience with adults approach and vocalize only rarely lo parental mew calls, although they will respond more strongly to the mew calls of two other species. These results suggest that posthatch experience, such as receipt of food from a calling parent, may be important for the normal development of responses to species typical calls. I tested the effects of food training by exposing young herring gulls, in the laboratory, lo mew calls during feedings. By 7 days of age, responses to herring gull calls increased significantly for young trained with these calls, and the initial tendency for the young to respond selectively to mew calls of the ring-billed gull (L. delawarensis) was reversed. Food training also influenced approach and vocal responses to a visual stimulus (my hand) used to deliver food. Results suggest that approach and vocal responses of young herring gulls may be strongly and adaptively influenced by food conditioning during the first few days after hatching.

Common Terns Raise Young from Successive Broods

The Auk ◽  
1984 ◽  
Vol 101 (2) ◽  
pp. 274-280 ◽  
Author(s):  
Helen Hays
Keyword(s):  
Breeding Season ◽  
Sterna Hirundo ◽  
Feeding Rates ◽  
Male And Female ◽  
Common Terns ◽  
Second Clutch

Abstract In this paper I report the first instance of a pair of Common Terns (Sterna hirundo) raising young in successive clutches during one breeding season and discuss this phenomenon in relation to male and female incubation and feeding rates and to predation. Five other pairs are noted in which the female and sometimes the male incubated a second clutch while still feeding one young from their first nest.

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