Alloparental care in the common murre (Uria aalge)

1984 ◽  
Vol 62 (11) ◽  
pp. 2121-2124 ◽  
Author(s):  
T. R. Birkhead ◽  
D. N. Nettleship
Keyword(s):  
Food Availability ◽  
Alloparental Care ◽  
Uria Aalge ◽  
Insufficient Information ◽  
Common Murre ◽  
Parsimonious Explanation ◽  
Common Murres ◽  
Breeding Attempt ◽  
The Common

Common murres (Uria aalge) at the Gannet Islands, Labrador, were found to assist in the rearing of chicks which were not their own. This alloparental behaviour was most common among birds which had failed in their breeding attempt and mainly comprised brooding of well-grown chicks aged 18–22 days. Alloparental care occurred both when the chick's parents were present and absent from the colony. It is unusual for common murre chicks to be left unattended and occurs only when food availability is low: alloparents may increase the chances of survival of unattended chicks. There are several possible explanations for alloparental care in common murres, but at the present time we have insufficient information to enable us to distinguish between them. However, the most parsimonious explanation is that chicks take advantage of a nonadaptive residual hormone titre in failed breeders.

scholarly journals Extra-Pair Paternity in the Common Murre

The Condor ◽  
2001 ◽  
Vol 103 (1) ◽  
pp. 158-162 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tim R. Birkhead ◽  
Ben J. Hatchwell ◽  
Robert Lindner ◽  
Donald Blomqvist ◽  
E. Jayne Pellatt ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Dna Fingerprinting ◽  
Behavioral Data ◽  
Uria Aalge ◽  
Extra Pair Paternity ◽  
Common Murre ◽  
Common Murres ◽  
The Common ◽  
Very High

Abstract Multi-locus DNA fingerprinting was used to estimate the frequency of extra-pair paternity in the Common Murre (Uria aalge), a colonial, sexually monomorphic seabird that breeds at very high densities and in which extra-pair copulation is frequent. Common Murres produce a single chick. We detected 6 cases of extra-pair paternity in 77 families (7.8%). This value was higher than the proportion of successful extra-pair copulations (1.6%) estimated from behavioral data from an earlier study of the same population.

Incubation and brooding shift duration in the Common Murre, Uria aalge

1987 ◽  
Vol 65 (2) ◽  
pp. 247-252 ◽  
Author(s):  
E. Verspoor ◽  
T. R. Birkhead ◽  
D. N. Nettleship
Keyword(s):  
Food Availability ◽  
Early Morning ◽  
Uria Aalge ◽  
Common Murre ◽  
Late Evening ◽  
The Common ◽  
Breeding Seasons

Within- and between-year variation in incubation and chick-brooding shift duration were studied during the 1981–1983 breeding seasons in Common Murre, Uria aalge, pairs on the Gannet Islands, Labrador. Incubation shifts averaged 17 h (range: 1–38 h) and daytime brooding shifts, 4 h (range: 1–14 h). Brooding shifts that included the night, during which change-overs did not occur, averaged 12 h (range: 7–20 h). No differences in shift duration were detected between the sexes but females incubated more at night than did males and were more likely to initiate their incubation shifts in early morning or late evening than males. There was no evidence that pairs tended to change over at the same time each day or that change-overs of neighbouring pairs were synchronized. Shift duration during chick rearing showed significant differences between 1982 and 1983 and the possibility that this was in response to differences in food availability is discussed.

scholarly journals Ecological interactions and habitat modification in nesting Common Murres, Uria aalge

1996 ◽  
Vol 6 (3) ◽  
pp. 261-269 ◽  
Author(s):  
Julia K. Parrish ◽  
Robert T. Paine
Keyword(s):  
Reproductive Output ◽  
Habitat Modification ◽  
Haliaeetus Leucocephalus ◽  
Uria Aalge ◽  
Ecological Interactions ◽  
Bald Eagles ◽  
Predator Removal ◽  
Common Murre ◽  
Corvus Caurinus ◽  
Common Murres

SummarySeabird populations suffer from a variety of natural and human-induced sources of mortality and loss of lifetime reproductive output. On the outer coast of Washington State, Common Murre Uria aalge populations have been in decline for approximately the last decade and are currently reproductively active only at Tatoosh Island. These murres nest in two basic habitat types: crevices (25% of the population) and larger cliff-top subcolonies (75%). Murres in cliff-top subcolonies have suffered dramatic reductions in reproductive success in recent years relative to conspecifics nesting in the crevices, primarily due to egg predation by Glaucous-winged Gulls Larus glaucescens and Northwestern Crows Corvus caurinus, facilitated by the presence of Bald Eagles Haliaeetus leucocephalus. Because predator removal is not feasible and creation of additional crevice habitat is difficult, expensive and potentially ineffective, we have designed a temporary habitat modification (the “silk forest”) which replaces the natural vegetation cover and modifies the interaction between murres and eagles. Within the test subcolony, murres nesting under and immediately adjacent to the silk forest produced nearly twice as many eggs per square metre as their conspecifics nesting in adjacent exposed-ground areas.

Exceptional variation in the appearance of Common Murre eggs reveals their potential as identity signals

The Auk ◽  
2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tim R Birkhead ◽  
Jamie E Thompson ◽  
Amelia R Cox ◽  
Robert D Montgomerie
Keyword(s):  
Uria Aalge ◽  
Quantitative Evidence ◽  
Breeding Group ◽  
Common Murre ◽  
Trimodal Distribution ◽  
Common Murres ◽  
Egg Traits ◽  
Breeding Groups ◽  
Different Parts

Abstract We studied the ground colors and maculations of 161 Common Murre (Uria aalge) eggs laid by 43 females in 3 small breeding groups on the cliffs of Skomer Island, Wales, in 2016–2018. Both the colors and maculations varied much more among than within females, providing quantitative evidence for the egg traits that might facilitate the parents’ ability to identify their own eggs on the crowded breeding ledges where the density is typically ~20 eggs m–2. Ground colors had a trimodal distribution of hue values (whitish to pale brown, pale blue, or vivid blue-green) and maculations ranged from none to complex squiggles and blotches. The eggs laid by each female in different years were similar to one another, and replacement eggs laid by females within years were also more similar to their first egg than to other eggs in the same breeding group. Egg appearance did not differ among the 3 breeding groups that we studied. Our findings thus support anecdotal observations that, within and between years, female Common Murres lay eggs that have similar ground colors and maculations. We do not, however, find evidence that there is much difference among the eggs laid in different parts of a colony.

scholarly journals The common murre (Uria aalge), an auk seabird, reacts to underwater sound

2020 ◽  
Vol 147 (6) ◽  
pp. 4069-4074 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kirstin Anderson Hansen ◽  
Ariana Hernandez ◽  
T. Aran Mooney ◽  
Marianne H. Rasmussen ◽  
Kenneth Sørensen ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Uria Aalge ◽  
Underwater Sound ◽  
Common Murre ◽  
The Common

Energy Metabolism in the Locomotor Muscles of the Common Murre (Uria aalge) and the Atlantic Puffin (Fratercula arctica)

The Auk ◽  
1987 ◽  
Vol 104 (4) ◽  
pp. 733-739 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. Benjamin Davis ◽  
Helga Guderley
Keyword(s):  
Krebs Cycle ◽  
Columba Livia ◽  
Oxygen Storage ◽  
Uria Aalge ◽  
Common Murre ◽  
Fratercula Arctica ◽  
Metabolic Systems ◽  
Flight Muscles ◽  
The Common ◽  
Atlantic Puffin

Abstract To compare the metabolic systems that support the combination of flying and diving with those used to support burst flying and sustained flying, myoglobin concentrations and maximum enzyme activities were determined for selected enzymes of glycolysis, the Krebs cycle, and amino acid metabolism in the pectoral, supracoracoideus, and sartorius muscles of the Common Murre (Uria aalge), Atlantic Puffin (Fratercula arctica), Rock Dove (Columba livia; hereafter "pigeon"), and Ring-necked Pheasant (Phasianus colchicus). Glycolytic enzyme levels in the flight muscles were lower in the murre and the puffin than in the pheasant, while both glycolytic and Krebs-cycle enzyme levels resembled those in the pigeon. We believe puffins and murres do not rely extensively on anaerobic glycolysis during diving. In concordance with a role in oxygen storage for diving, the levels of myoglobin in the flight muscles of murres and puffins were higher than those in pigeons or pheasants. They were lower than published values for penguins, however. In contrast to the trends for pigeon and pheasant muscles, the alcid sartorius muscles had a considerably lower aerobic orientation than the flight muscles.

PREY DENSITY AND THE BEHAVIORAL FLEXIBILITY OF A MARINE PREDATOR: THE COMMON MURRE (URIA AALGE)

Ecology ◽  
2007 ◽  
Vol 88 (8) ◽  
pp. 2024-2033 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ann M. A. Harding ◽  
John F. Piatt ◽  
Joel A. Schmutz ◽  
Michael T. Shultz ◽  
Thomas I. Van Pelt ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Prey Density ◽  
Behavioral Flexibility ◽  
Uria Aalge ◽  
Marine Predator ◽  
Common Murre ◽  
The Common

The ectoparasites of some marine birds from Bamfield Marine Station, British Columbia, with particular reference to the common murre, Uria aalge (Pont.)

1979 ◽  
Vol 57 (10) ◽  
pp. 1980-1984 ◽  
Author(s):  
John T. Ballard ◽  
Richard A. Ring
Keyword(s):  
British Columbia ◽  
Host Species ◽  
Uria Aalge ◽  
Marine Birds ◽  
Common Murre ◽  
Marine Station ◽  
The Common

Six species of birds from the region of the Bamfield Marine Station, British Columbia, were examined for ectoparasites. A total of seven species of Mallophaga belonging lo five genera (Saemundssonia, Austromenopon, Cummingsielli, Anatoecus, and Anaticola) were recovered. One flea (Mioctenopsylla traubi, Siphonaptera), leather mites of the genus Zachvatkinia, other mites of the genera Ameronothrus. Cymbaeremaeus, and Rhinonyssus, and ticks of the genus Ixodes were also identified. Each host species and its ectoparasites are discussed separately. Differences in the ectoparasite burdens of juveniles and adults of both sexes of the common murre, Uria aalge (Pont.), are compared and contrasted.

Common Murre (Uria aalge) attendance patterns at Cape St. Mary's, Newfoundland

1987 ◽  
Vol 65 (6) ◽  
pp. 1530-1534 ◽  
Author(s):  
John F. Piatt ◽  
Ruth L. McLagan
Keyword(s):  
Wind Speed ◽  
Uria Aalge ◽  
Seasonal Fluctuations ◽  
Individual Study ◽  
Common Murre ◽  
Attendance Patterns ◽  
Common Murres ◽  
Significant Change ◽  
Small Decline

Attendance patterns of common murres (Uria aalge) at Cape St. Mary's, Newfoundland, were observed during hatching to post-fledging periods of 1980 to 1984. Six study plots on breeding ledges (ca. 450 birds total) and a "club" on the water were monitored for seasonal fluctuations in numbers attending. Attendance on ledges was similar between years, being relatively stable from hatching through to median fledging, and declining steadily thereafter. Attendance at the club usually peaked between median hatching and fledging, then declined rapidly during the fledging period. Numbers of murres attending neighboring study plots were often significantly correlated, but correlations were much weaker between distant plots. There were few significant correlations between attendance and wind speed or tidal oscillations in any year of study. Numbers of murres attending individual study plots varied significantly between years; four declined, one increased, and one showed no significant change. Overall, there was a small decline in total numbers of murres attending all study plots between 1980 and 1984.

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