Abstract
Abstract. Cues and social information are important in the decisions many animals make to settle. In colonial seabirds, such decisions are based upon information gathered during a prospecting phase, in which for young individuals social information from conspecifics is key. Yet the specific cues that prospectors use, and why, remain debated questions. We used an experimental approach to evaluate a conspecific-attraction hypothesis, predicting that during nocturnal prospecting Ancient Murrelets (Synthliboramphus antiquus) use social information in the form of audio cues. Specifically, we used playback experiments to test whether prospectors use conspecific vocalizations to locate potential breeding sites, and we hypothesized that prospectors' activity should increase during playback of conspecific calls. Using an information-theoretic approach we found that, as predicted, playback increased Ancient Murrelet activity, supporting a conspecific-attraction hypothesis. During playback, activity increased over b...
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