Abstract
Seabirds can potentially feed over a wide range at sea. Recently, feeding area fidelity and individual differences in feeding area have been reported in several species of inshore and offshore feeding seabirds. Environmental factors and proximate mechanisms inducing these behaviors were reviewed. Feeding area fidelity has been reported among seabirds feeding at stable and suitable feeding sites such as upwelling areas caused by fronts, tidal cycles or sea bottom topology. Birds feeding on predictable demersal fish also seem to show feeding area fidelity. Individual birds tend to visit the same site during consecutive foraging trips, indicating that the birds use memory to locate feeding sites. The hypothesis predicting that individual feeding area fidelity promotes high feeding efficiency hence high reproductive success has to be tested. To examine how spatial and temporal prey predictability affect variation in feeding area and its fidelity, scale dependent and comparative studies based on appropriate statistical techniques to evaluate feeding area fidelity are required.
