Speaker
Description
Predicting and responding to changing environmental conditions is an essential part of making optimal decisions about movement. Over small spatial scales such decisions may be guided by short-range cues, but it can be unclear what cues underlie movement at scales exceeding 1000s of km. Infrasound could form such a cue. In marine habitats, infrasound is largely generated by non-linear wave interactions that are associated with storms. For ocean-faring species, infrasound sensitivity could therefore help animals to either avoid these weather fronts, or if such conditions are favourable to movement, move towards them. Yet despite its potential utility as a cue, behavioural responses to infrasound have been investigated in very few species. We tested whether one of the furthest ranging seabirds, the wandering albatross, shows movement trajectories consistent with responsiveness to infrasound. We used high-resolution GPS data collected from 89 albatrosses breeding on Crozet Island, in combination with modelled infrasound maps, to show that albatrosses move towards areas containing higher infrasound levels and propose that this might allow them to anticipate conditions optimal for flight at long distances. This provides the first evidence for infrasound responsiveness in a free-ranging bird, broadening our understanding of how animals perceive and navigate vast featureless habitats.
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