CANCELLED - Inter-individual variation in the migratory behaviour of a generalist seabird, the herring gull (Larus smithsoniansus), from the Canadian Arctic

Background/Question/Methods

The Arctic is warming three times faster than the rest of the globe, causing rapid transformational changes in Arctic ecosystems. As these changes increase, understanding seabird movements will be important for predicting how they respond to climate change, and thus how we plan for conservation. Moreover, as most Arc-tic-breeding seabirds only spend the breeding season in the Arctic, climate change may also affect them through habitat changes in their non-breeding range. Information on the migratory behaviour of Arc-tic-breeding herring gulls (Larus smithsoniansus) has only recently been revealed and analyses of within-population variation are scarce. We used Global Location Sensors (GLS) to provide new insights on individual differences in migratory routes, stopover sites and overwintering areas of a herring gull population in the eastern Canadian Arctic.

Results/Conclusions

We tracked gulls that wintered in the Gulf of Mexico (n = 7) or the Great Lakes (n = 1), and found that migratory routes and stopover sites varied between individuals, and between southbound and northbound migration. This inter-individual variation suggests that herring gulls, as a generalist species, can make use of an array of regions during migration, but may be more susceptible to climate change impacts in their overwintering locations than during migration. This study provides a unique opportunity to monitor how this opportunistic species will shift its migratory behaviour in the face of a changing climate. Future, multi-year studies are recommended to better understand year-to-year variation and the impacts of climate change on this Arctic-breeding gull.