Browsing by Author "Nava, Cristina P."
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- Do Cory’s Shearwaters Calonectris borealis choose mates based on size?Publication . Nava, Cristina P.; Kim, Sin-Yeon; Magalhães, Maria C.; Neves, Verónica C.Many bird species rely on visual cues for mate choice, including those provided by body size or by the size of a body appendage. Mate choice based on size may lead to size-assortative mating, which may in turn have consequences for reproductive performance. In this study, we examined whether body size influences mate choice decisions of Cory’s Shearwater Calonectris borealis, a seabird with nocturnal activity on land. We found evidence of negative assortative mating for bill morphology (nostril height and bill length), but found no assortative mating according to body mass, tarsus length, and wing length. In addition, we investigated the influence of negative assortative mating and individual body size-related traits on reproductive performance, i.e., laying date and breeding success. We found that laying date and breeding success were not correlated with the extent of assortative mating, i.e., the assortatively mating breeders did not lay earlier and were not more likely to breed successfully. However, we found that heavier females (body mass measured during pre-laying) laid later in the season. We discuss these results in the light of possible effects of acoustic signals and foraging strategies on the mating pattern. Furthermore, we suggest that some female attributes may be crucial for breeding success in Cory’s Shearwaters.
- Migration routes and non-breeding areas of Common Terns (Sterna hirundo) from the AzoresPublication . Neves, Verónica C.; Nava, Cristina P.; Cormons, Matt; Bremer, Esteban; Castresana, Gabriel; Lima, Pedro; Junior, Severino M. Azevedo; Phillips, Richard A.; Magalhães, Maria C.; Santos, Ricardo S.We describe the migration routes and non-breeding areas of Common Terns (Sterna hirundo) from the Azores Archipelago, based on ringing (banding) recoveries and tracking of three birds using geolocators. Over 20 years, there have been 55 transatlantic recoveries of Common Terns from the Azores population: six from Argentina and 49 from Brazil. The three tracked birds migrated south in different months (August, September, November), but the northern migration was more synchronous, with all leaving in April. The birds were tracked to three areas of the South American coast: the male spent November—April on the northern Brazilian coast (13°N–2°S), whereas the two females first spent some time off central-eastern Brazil (4–16°S; one for 1 week, the other for 3 months) and then moved south to the coast of south-eastern Brazil, Uruguay and northern Argentina (24–39°S). Although caution is needed given the small sample size and errors associated with geolocation, the three tracked terns potentially travelled a total of ∼23 200 km to and returning from their non-breeding areas, representing an average movement of ∼500 km day−1. With the exception of Belém, in northern Brazil, and Lagoa do Peixe, in southern Brazil, the coastal areas used by the tracked birds were also those with concentrations of ringing recoveries, confirming their importance as non-breeding areas for birds from the Azores.