Quantitative analysis of the behavior of three auk species (Charadriiformes, Alcidae): Crested auklet (Aethia cristatella), parakeet auklet (Cyclorrhynchus psittacula), and horned puffin (Fratercula corniculata)

Abstract

Comparative studies of the social behavior of nonpasserine birds are rare but useful for understanding the general theoretical issues, such as the evolution of the social behavior of birds. The aim of this work is quantitative comparison of bird behavior on the colony surface and its dependency on different factors such as the phase of the breeding season and the social environment in three auk species. The objects of this research are the crested auklet, parakeet auklet, and horned puffin. All of them are colonial seabirds of the North Pacific. They possess a number of similar biological features, but differ in colonial and club size, nesting density, types of communication, and social activity. We compiled a catalog of postures and displays for the three auk species and found significant interspecies differences in the occurrence of almost all the types of behavior; the crested auklet, compared to the other species, spent the longest time on social interaction, whereas the horned puffin spent the least time. The occurrence of all types of behavior was similar before and after chick hatching in all three species. In the presence of a conspecific neighbor within a radius of two bird corpuses, individuals of all three species spent more time on social interaction, while the number of conspecifics in a radius of five bird corpuses had little or no effect on the occurrence of various types of behavior. Thus, interspecific differences in the time budgets of the species were displayed only in the occurrences of various behavioral types, whereas the tested factors similarly influenced the time budgets of all the species studied.