Abstract
Aggregations of young animals are common in a range of endothermic and ectothermic species, yet the adaptive behavior may depend on social circumstance and local conditions. In penguins, many species form aggregations (aka. crèches) for a variety of purposes, whilst others have never been observed exhibiting this behavior. Those that do form aggregations do so for three known benefits: 1) reduced thermoregulatory requirements, 2) avoidance of unrelated-adult aggression, and 3) lower predation risk. In gentoo penguins, Pygoscelis papua, chick aggregations are known to form during the post-guard period, yet the cause of these aggregations is poorly understood. Here, for the first time, we study aggregation behavior in gentoo penguins, examining four study sites along a latitudinal gradient using time-lapse cameras to examine the adaptive benefit of aggregations to chicks. Our results support the idea that aggregations of gentoo chicks decrease an individual’s energetic expenditure when wet, cold conditions are present. However, we found significant differences in aggregation behavior between the lowest latitude site, Maiviken, South Georgia, and two of the higher latitude sites on the Antarctic Peninsula, suggesting this behavior may be colony specific. We provide strong evidence that more chicks aggregate and a larger number of aggregations occur on South Georgia, while the opposite occurs at Petermann Island in Antarctica. Future studies should evaluate multiple seabird colonies within one species before generalizing behaviors based on one location, and past studies may need to be re-evaluated to determine whether chick aggregation and other behaviors are in fact exhibited species-wide.
Highlights
Aggregations of young animals are common in a range of endothermic and ectothermic species, yet the behavior’s adaptive purposes depend on a species’ social behaviors and local conditions
We deployed cameras at four study sites to study chick aggregations in gentoo penguins based on a latitudinal gradient: 1) Maiviken (-36.506, -54.246) on South Georgia, 2) Georges Point (-62.670, -64.669) on Ronge Island along the Western Antarctic Peninsula (WAP), 3) Port Lockroy (-63.484, -64.823) along the WAP, and 4) Petermann Island (-64.142, -65.172,) along the WAP (Fig 1)
To the best of our knowledge, we are the first to study the adaptive significance of chick aggregation behavior in gentoo penguins and the first to examine this behavior at multiple colonies, covering a large geographic range, in any penguin species
Summary
Aggregations of young animals are common in a range of endothermic and ectothermic species, yet the behavior’s adaptive purposes depend on a species’ social behaviors and local conditions. Many species of penguins form aggregations (e.g. emperor, Aptenodytes forsteri [7]; king, A. patagonicus [8, 9]; chinstrap, Pygoscelis antarcticus [10, 11]; Adélie, P. adeliae [12,13,14]; African, Spheniscus demersus [15, 16]), while others have never been observed exhibiting this behavior (e.g. little, Eudyptula minor, yellow-eyed Megadyptes antipodes, Magellanic, Spheniscus magellanicus, Galapagos, Spheniscus mendiculus, and Humboldt penguins, S. humboldti [6]) Those that do form aggregations (formally called ‘créches’; see [6] for nomenclature) do so for three known benefits: 1) reduced thermoregulatory requirements, 2) avoidance of aggression from unrelated adults and 3) lower predation risk. Younger chicks will form larger aggregations and a higher proportion of chicks will aggregate when predators are present, as a means of predator avoidance
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