Topic
Sterna
About: Sterna is a research topic. Over the lifetime, 791 publications have been published within this topic receiving 18351 citations.
Papers published on a yearly basis
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Papers
TL;DR: The tracking of 11 Arctic terns fitted with miniature (1.4-g) geolocators revealed that these birds do indeed travel huge distances, and identified a previously unknown oceanic stopover area in the North Atlantic used by birds from at least two breeding populations.
Abstract: The study of long-distance migration provides insights into the habits and performance of organisms at the limit of their physical abilities. The Arctic tern Sterna paradisaea is the epitome of such behavior; despite its small size (<125 g), banding recoveries and at-sea surveys suggest that its annual migration from boreal and high Arctic breeding grounds to the Southern Ocean may be the longest seasonal movement of any animal. Our tracking of 11 Arctic terns fitted with miniature (1.4-g) geolocators revealed that these birds do indeed travel huge distances (more than 80,000 km annually for some individuals). As well as confirming the location of the main wintering region, we also identified a previously unknown oceanic stopover area in the North Atlantic used by birds from at least two breeding populations (from Greenland and Iceland). Although birds from the same colony took one of two alternative southbound migration routes following the African or South American coast, all returned on a broadly similar, sigmoidal trajectory, crossing from east to west in the Atlantic in the region of the equatorial Intertropical Convergence Zone. Arctic terns clearly target regions of high marine productivity both as stopover and wintering areas, and exploit prevailing global wind systems to reduce flight costs on long-distance commutes.
573 citations
TL;DR: Positive statistical associations were found among these bird species, which are explained by common attraction to food made available by feeding yellowfin tuna, in the southern latitudes and in the central Pacific, flock were dominated by Sooty Terns, and few flocks were associated with dolphins.
Abstract: Bird flocks associated with dolphins in the eastern tropical Pacific are described from observations obtained during eight cruises that took place from January to March of 1976, 1977, 1979, and 1980. In the northern tropical waters between latitudes 5"N and 30"N, 43% to 53% of bird flocks co-occurred with dolphins. In equatorial and southern subtropical waters between latitudes SON to 12"s and in the central Pacific less than 8% of the flocks were associated with dolphins. In northern tropical waters about 70% of dolphin schools associated with flocks were composed of spotted or spotted plus spinner dolphins; conversely, 59% of spotted dolphin and 96% of spotted plus spinner dolphin schools co-occurred with bird flocks. Most large schools of these dolphins were associated with birds, and thenumber and diversity of bird species increased with dolphin school size. The average species composition of birds in dolphin-associated flocks of northern tropical waters was: boobies 4 I.%, Wedge-tailed Shearwaters (Puffinus pacificus) 3 1.4%, jaegers 12.8%, Sooty Terns (Sterna firscata) 6%, frigatebirds 3.6%, and others 4.5%. Positive statistical associations were found among these bird species, which are explained by common attraction to food made available by feeding yellowfin tuna. In the southern latitudes and in the central Pacific, flocks were dominated by Sooty Terns, and few flocks were associated with dolphins. These flocks appeared to be associated with skipjack rather than yellowfin tuna.
275 citations
270 citations
TL;DR: Several multistratum capture-recapture models were used to test various hypotheses about possible geographic and temporal variation in survival, movement, and recapture/resighting probabilities of 2399 adult Roseate Terns (Sterna dougallii) color-banded from 1988 to 1992 at the sites of the four largest breeding colonies of this species in the northeastern USA as discussed by the authors.
Abstract: Several multistratum capture-recapture models were used to test various hypotheses about possible geographic and temporal variation in survival, movement, and recapture/resighting probabilities of 2399 adult Roseate Terns (Sterna dougallii) color-banded from 1988 to 1992 at the sites of the four largest breeding colonies of this species in the northeastern USA. Linear-logistic ultrastructural models also were developed to investigate possible correlates of geographic variation in movement probabilities. Based on goodness-of-fit tests and comparisons of Akaike's Information Criterion (AIC) values, the fully parameterized model (Model A) with time- and location-specific survival, movement, and capture probabilities, was selected as the most appropriate model for this metapopulation structure. With almost all movement accounted for, on average >90% of the surviving adults from each colony site returned to the same site the following year. Variations in movement probabilities were more closely associated with the identity of the destination colony site than with either the identity of the colony site of origin or the distance between colony sites. The average annual survival estimates (0.74-0.84) of terns from all four sites indicate a high rate of annual mortality relative to that of other species of marine birds.
204 citations
Related Topics (5)
Performance Metrics
| Year | Papers |
|---|---|
| 2025 | 26 |
| 2024 | 34 |
| 2023 | 25 |
| 2022 | 73 |
| 2021 | 43 |
| 2020 | 32 |