Temperature dependent preening behaviour in common guillemots Uria aalge

Abstract: As global temperature increase, new thermal conditions may challenge the physiological limits of endotherms. Examining the direct effects of extreme temperatures is an important component in understanding how these physiological limits may impact an organism’s behaviour, breeding success and survival. Breeding at high latitude, with nest sites exposed to the changing weather of the summer months, makes the common guillemot Uria aalge a good model to examine how these changing thermal conditions may impact an organism’s behaviour. In this study, I examined the amount of time spent on two different preening behaviours, self-preening and allopreening, in relation to increasing air temperatures and sun exposure using video footage from a breeding colony of common guillemots in the Baltic Sea. Both preening behaviours function as ectoparasite control in addition to allopreening that may also have an important role in social interactions between neighbours and partners. The results demonstrate a negative relationship between increasing air temperatures and the amount of time birds spent on self-preening in sun exposed conditions. Additionally, birds spent less time on allopreening as temperature increase at intermediate sun exposure. These results illustrate a possible trade-off between the regulation of internal body temperature and preening behaviour in common guillemots. This re-allocation of time and energy away from preening could ultimately affect the social dynamics and health of the colony in addition to the quality of parental care as the birds spend more time and energy on maintaining thermal homeostasis as temperature and sun exposure increase.