Is ecotourism affecting nest and pair fidelity in a Magellanic penguin colony located in Peninsula Valdés, Argentina?

VILLANUEVA, M. C.; BERTELLOTTI, M.; WALKER, B.

Cuzco

Congreso; IX Congreso de Ornitología Neotropical; 2011

Neotropical Ornithology Society

Magellanic penguins (Spheniscus magallanicus) show high nest and pair fidelity. However, a disturbance such as tourist visitation could cause penguins to move to undisturbed areas. We studied the return rates and nest and pair fidelity of Magellanic penguins in San Lorenzo colony, at Peninsula Valdés, Argentina. We followed banded pairs in a) a visited trail opened to tourism 11 years ago (16 pairs), b) in a newly opened trail (17 pairs) and c) in a non-visited area (23 pairs) during three reproductive seasons. We found that the return rates of penguins diminished among years. We did not find differences in the returning penguins between the old and new trails, but fewer penguins returned to the non-visited area. We also found that fewer females than males returned to the colony. We did not find differences in the nest fidelity among areas or seasons. Pair fidelity was higher in the old and new trail than the non-visited area. We conclude that tourist visitation is not causing penguins to move away from the tourist trail, not even in a newly opened area, where penguins had to get use to human visitation. Pair fidelity was also not affected by tourist visitation. However differential survival between females and males raises concerns about what other conditions are affecting Magellanic penguins in their migratory routes.