Final published version
Licence: CC BY: Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License
Research output: Contribution to Journal/Magazine › Journal article › peer-review
Research output: Contribution to Journal/Magazine › Journal article › peer-review
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TY - JOUR
T1 - Homing navigation is optimized to diurnal constraints in a tropical seabird, the red-footed booby
AU - Coste, Joshua
AU - Votier, Stephen C.
AU - Dunn, Ruth E.
AU - Freeman, Robin
AU - Nicoll, Malcolm A.
AU - Carr, Peter
AU - Wood, Hannah
AU - Trevail, Alice M.
PY - 2025/4/30
Y1 - 2025/4/30
N2 - When navigating homewards, central-place foragers can use landmarks and sun angle to adjust their return movement behaviour. However, for tropical oceanic species foraging from low-lying atolls, the effectiveness of their homing journeys on their time returns remains unclear. Thus, in this study, the navigation behaviour of red-footed boobies, Sula sula rubripes, in the Chagos Archipelago, central Indian Ocean, was investigated. Using GPS tracking data from 207 breeding adults across four colonies, the homing duration, bearing and trajectory straightness during central-place foraging were explored to elucidate the navigational constraints and temporal dynamics. Return distances and orientations were modelled in relation to the time of day and distance to the colony to assess whether birds adjust their homing behaviour to return before dusk. We found that red-footed boobies navigated efficiently back to their colony on fast, straight and direct flights and adjusted their homing behaviour to arrive at the colony around dusk: the closer to the evening twilight they start their homing journey, the shorter, faster and more direct their routes become. These findings provide a comprehensive understanding of seabird navigation in tropical environments, as well as insights into the adaptive mechanism underlying successful navigation over expansive oceanic territories.
AB - When navigating homewards, central-place foragers can use landmarks and sun angle to adjust their return movement behaviour. However, for tropical oceanic species foraging from low-lying atolls, the effectiveness of their homing journeys on their time returns remains unclear. Thus, in this study, the navigation behaviour of red-footed boobies, Sula sula rubripes, in the Chagos Archipelago, central Indian Ocean, was investigated. Using GPS tracking data from 207 breeding adults across four colonies, the homing duration, bearing and trajectory straightness during central-place foraging were explored to elucidate the navigational constraints and temporal dynamics. Return distances and orientations were modelled in relation to the time of day and distance to the colony to assess whether birds adjust their homing behaviour to return before dusk. We found that red-footed boobies navigated efficiently back to their colony on fast, straight and direct flights and adjusted their homing behaviour to arrive at the colony around dusk: the closer to the evening twilight they start their homing journey, the shorter, faster and more direct their routes become. These findings provide a comprehensive understanding of seabird navigation in tropical environments, as well as insights into the adaptive mechanism underlying successful navigation over expansive oceanic territories.
U2 - 10.1016/j.anbehav.2025.123116
DO - 10.1016/j.anbehav.2025.123116
M3 - Journal article
VL - 222
JO - Animal Behaviour
JF - Animal Behaviour
SN - 0003-3472
M1 - 123116
ER -