Nesterova, Anna P; Le Bohec, Céline; Beaune, David; Pettex, Emeline; Le Maho, Yvon; Bonadonna, Francesco (2010): Path characteristics and colony arrival-departure statistics of king penguins (Aptenodytes patagonicus) on Possession and Kerguelen Island [dataset publication series]. PANGAEA, https://doi.org/10.1594/PANGAEA.817547, Supplement to: Nesterova, AP et al. (2010): Do penguins dare to walk at night? Visual cues influence king penguin colony arrivals and departures. Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology, 64(7), 1145-1156, https://doi.org/10.1007/s00265-010-0930-3
Always quote citation above when using data! You can download the citation in several formats below.
Abstract:
Orientation based on visual cues can be extremely difficult in crowded bird colonies due to the presence of many individuals. We studied king penguins (Aptenodytes patagonicus) that live in dense colonies and are constantly faced with such problems. Our aims were to describe adult penguin homing paths on land and to test whether visual cues are important for their orientation in the colony. We also tested the hypothesis that older penguins should be better able to cope with limited visual cues due to their greater experience. We collected and examined GPS paths of homing penguins. In addition, we analyzed 8 months of penguin arrivals to and departures from the colony using data from an automatic identification system. We found that birds rearing chicks did not minimize their traveling time on land and did not proceed to their young (located in creches) along straight paths. Moreover, breeding birds' arrivals and departures were affected by the time of day and luminosity levels. Our data suggest that king penguins prefer to move in and out of the colony when visual cues are available. Still, they are capable of navigating even in complete darkness, and this ability seems to develop over the years, with older breeding birds more likely to move through the colony at nighttime luminosity levels. This study is the first step in unveiling the mysteries of king penguin orientation on land.
Project(s):
Coverage:
Median Latitude: -47.357867 * Median Longitude: 58.093067 * South-bound Latitude: -49.222000 * West-bound Longitude: 51.861100 * North-bound Latitude: -46.425800 * East-bound Longitude: 70.557000
Date/Time Start: 2007-08-15T00:00:00 * Date/Time End: 2008-03-15T00:00:00
Comment:
Data extracted in the frame of a joint ICSTI/PANGAEA IPY effort, see http://doi.pangaea.de/10.1594/PANGAEA.150150
License:
Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported (CC-BY-3.0)
Size:
3 datasets
Download Data
Datasets listed in this publication series
- Nesterova, AP; Le Bohec, C; Beaune, D et al. (2010): (Table 2) Monthly statistics of king penguin (Aptenodytes patagonicus) colony arrivals, Possession Island. https://doi.org/10.1594/PANGAEA.817545
- Nesterova, AP; Le Bohec, C; Beaune, D et al. (2010): (Table 4) Differences in king penguin (Aptenodytes patagonicus) colony arrivals and departures based on age, Possession Island. https://doi.org/10.1594/PANGAEA.817546
- Nesterova, AP; Le Bohec, C; Beaune, D et al. (2010): (Table 1) King penguins' (Aptenodytes patagonicus) path characteristics to their colony, Kerguelen Island. https://doi.org/10.1594/PANGAEA.817544