Sex-biased mortality of common terns in wind farm collisions

We studied sex differences in collision mortality in adult Common Terns ( Sterna hirundo ) at a wind farm in the direct vicinity of a breeding site in Zeebrugge, Belgium in 2005-2007. In total, 64 fatalities were collected and sexed, of which 64% were males. Uneven sex ratio among these birds was most pronounced during the period of incubation and early chick feeding (15 May-15 June), when 78% of the 28mortalities were male. During prelaying and feeding of young, the sex ratio of mortalities did not differ from equality. We argue that sex-biased collision mortality in Common Terns does not res... Mehr ...

Verfasser: Stienen, E.
Courtens, W.
Everaert, J.
Van de walle, M.
Dokumenttyp: Artikel
Erscheinungsdatum: 2008
Schlagwörter: Mortality / Sex differences / Turbines / Wind power / Sterna hirundo Linnaeus / 1758 [Common tern] / Belgium / Europe
Sprache: Englisch
Permalink: https://search.fid-benelux.de/Record/base-28930627
Datenquelle: BASE; Originalkatalog
Powered By: BASE
Link(s) : https://www.vliz.be/imisdocs/publications/136744.pdf

We studied sex differences in collision mortality in adult Common Terns ( Sterna hirundo ) at a wind farm in the direct vicinity of a breeding site in Zeebrugge, Belgium in 2005-2007. In total, 64 fatalities were collected and sexed, of which 64% were males. Uneven sex ratio among these birds was most pronounced during the period of incubation and early chick feeding (15 May-15 June), when 78% of the 28mortalities were male. During prelaying and feeding of young, the sex ratio of mortalities did not differ from equality. We argue that sex-biased collision mortality in Common Terns does not result from morphological differences between the sexes, but rather reflects differences in foraging frequency between males and females during egg-laying and incubation.