Abstract
Three predictions of the Information-Centre Hypothesis (ICH) of colonial nesting were tested using observations from two common tern colonies in upstate New York. As predicted by this hypothesis, terns departed from the colonies on foraging trips in temporal synchrony, and birds that left together headed preferentially toward similar feeding areas. By one measure of foraging success, unsuccessful foragers were more likely to follow others from the colony. Terns that brought back a fish from one trip were more likely to be followed on subsequent trips. Birds arriving at feeding areas in groups had a higher probability of finding food than solitary birds. The use of feeding areas varied both between and within days. Results are discussed with regard to between-colony differences in departure synchrony, mechanisms of information transfer at the colony, and problems in defining and predicting the behaviour of unsuccessful foragers.
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