Does haematology reflect at-sea movements in Magellanic penguins during the chick-rearing stage?

VANSTREELS, RALPH ERIC THIJL; BLANCO, GABRIELA S.; LUCIANA GALLO; UHART, MARCELA M.

Congreso; 11th International Penguin Congress; 2023

Magellanic penguins (Spheniscus magellanicus) breeding at Cabo Dos Bahías (CDB;44°55′S 65°33′W), Chubut, Argentina, show remarkable ecological plasticity with highinter-annual variability in foraging behaviour and breeding success. We hypothesizedthat individual differences in at-sea movements would be reflected in haematologicalparameters. We deployed GPS trackers on 27 adult Magellanic penguins (17 males and10 females) at CDB during the early chick-rearing stage (chicks females) and thecorrelation between this variable and chick age was only significant for adult males(R=0.582). No significant associations were found between haematological and at-seamovement variables, except a negative correlation between total distance travelled andproportion of lymphocytes (R=–0.366); however, this could be a spurious correlation astotal distance travelled was also correlated to chick age (R=0.448) and trip duration(R=0.589). These results suggest that select haematological parameters in adultMagellanic penguins during the early chick-rearing stage are poorly reflective ofdemands from immediate at-sea movements, reflecting instead broader temporalpatterns in adult haematology linked to the changing physiological demands associatedwith parental care as their chicks grow.