Brown Booby Sula Leucogaster Group Size as a Defense Against Kleptoparasitism (original) (raw)

Marine Ornithology 43: 133–134 (2015) Kleptoparasitism, or food piracy, is widespread among seabirds (Brockmann & Barnard 1979, Furness 1987), leading seabirds to adopt various strategies to avoid being parasitized. These include choice of nesting location (Nettleship 1972), changes in flight altitude and behavior when approaching the colony or nest site (Grant 1971), diving underwater to escape aerial pursuit (Grant 1971), avoiding situations in which the ratio of parasites is large relative to potential victims (Grant 1971, Blackburn et al. 2009) and decreasing the same ratio by defensively aggregating as flocks, as do other organisms (e.g. Hamilton 1971, Falconer 1976, Courchamp et al. 2002, Carbone et al. 2005). This note reports on the apparent use of the last strategy by Brown Boobies Sula leucogaster to avoid parasitism by Magnificent Frigatebirds Fregata magnificens. BROWN BOOBY SULA LEUCOGASTER GROUP SIZE AS A DEFENSE AGAINST KLEPTOPARASITISM