Abstract
Animals have to face different challenges related to the rapid expansion of urbanization in their environments, so being behaviorally flexible will allow them to thrive in these scenarios. Here we aimed to examine the response of a south American threatened species, the Olrog’s Gull (Larus atlanticus), to novel stimuli in urban and non-urban habitats, analyzing the social context of the feeding group. Fieldwork was conducted at the Mar Chiquita Reserve and Mar del Plata city in Argentina. We compared the response of individuals in presence and absence of a novel objects in urban and non-urban habitats. The habitat type affected the proportion of individuals that approached and consumed from the feeding area, being higher in urban areas. The probability of immature individuals entering first to the area was also higher in urban areas, while the probability of adult individuals approaching first only increased with the increasing adult presence at the feeding station. Consumption latency and neophobia level did not differ between habitat types. However, general consumption latency was higher in novel situation respect to familiar situation, suggesting an aversion of birds to novelty. This response decreased over the experimental days, probably involving a learning process, and with the increase of individuals around the feeding station. The study of this threatened species that has recently colonized urban ecosystems provides us a comprehensive understanding of this species’ ability to exhibit behavioral flexibility in their natural environment.
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Data will be available upon request to the corresponding author.
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Acknowledgements
The authors thank Graciela Lizalde, José Bramante and Anabella Nicolli for providing helpful assistance on the field work. We appreciate the improvements in English usage made by Pamela Denmon through the Association of Field Ornithologists’ program of editorial assistance. The authors thank Ministerio de Ambiente de la Provincia de Buenos Aires, the Ministerio de Agroindustria -Dirección de Flora y Fauna de la Provincia de Buenos Aires-, and the Comité Institucional de Cuidado y Uso de Animales de Laboratorio (CICUAL, Universidad Nacional de Mar del Plata) for permits to work in the area.
Funding
This study was supported by the Agencia Nacional de Promoción de la Investigación, el Desarrollo Tecnológico y la Innovación (Grant number PICT 2016–618 and PICT 2019 − 1838 to GO García; grant number PICT 2017 − 1761 to M. Favero).
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Melina V. Castano: Conceptualization, Methodology, Fieldwork, Writing - original draft, Writing - review and editing. Francisco Zumpano: Fieldwork, Statistical analysis, Visualization, Writing - review and editing. Laura M. Biondi: Conceptualization, Methodology, Writing - review and editing. Germán O. García: Conceptualization, Methodology, Fieldwork, Funding acquisition, Project administration. Writing - review and editing. All authors read and approved the final manuscript. The authors give consent to publish this work in Urban Ecosystems, if accepted.
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Castano, M.V., Zumpano, F., Biondi, L.M. et al. Does urbanization affect behavioral responses to novel objects in marine birds? The Olrog’s Gull as a case of study. Urban Ecosyst 27, 427–437 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11252-023-01465-2
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11252-023-01465-2