The effect of breeding success on nest and colony fidelity in the Little Penguin (<i>Eudyptula minor</i>) in Otago, New Zealand

Abstract

Both individual breeding success and breeding success of conspecifics can be used to indicate breeding-site quality and thus to determine site fidelity. Using data taken from two adjacent colonies differing in quality, we studied site fidelity of Little Penguins (Eudyptula minor) at two spatial scales: the nest and the colony. We tested for the effect of individual breeding success, nest type (natural and nest boxes) and mate change on nest fidelity. Nest fidelity was highest for penguins with high breeding success and for those that bred with the same partner as in the previous year. Within the same colony, penguins were more faithful to boxes than to natural nests. We tested for the effect of both individual and conspecific breeding success on colony fidelity. Over the five years of study, there were no recorded movements of breeding birds between the two study colonies. There was no evidence for any effect of conspecific breeding success on colony fidelity. Individual breeding success was found to have an effect on colony fidelity: successful breeders were more likely than unsuccessful breeders to return to breed in the colony the subsequent year.