Document ID: chunk:federal_register_of_legislation:F2022L00775:reg:4:p3
Version: federal_register_of_legislation:F2022L00775
Segment Type: reg
Provision Reference: reg 4 (pt 3/12)
Character Range: 15895–18709

tuna to push shoaling fish up towards the surface (Au et al. 1986).
Kleptoparasites are seabirds that steal food of other seabirds. Most famously, frigatebirds and skuas engage in this behaviour, although gulls, terns and other species will steal food opportunistically (Schreiber and Burger 2002). The nocturnal nesting behaviour of some seabirds has been interpreted as arising due to pressure from this aerial piracy (Gaston and Dechesne 1986). Kleptoparasitism is not thought to play a significant part of the diet of any species but is a supplement to food obtained by hunting (Schreiber and Burger 2002). A study of Great Frigatebirds stealing from Masked Boobies estimated that the frigatebirds could at most obtain 40 per cent of the food they needed, and on average obtained only 5 per cent (Vickery and Brooke 1994).
6 Wildlife Conservation Plan for Seabirds
Seabirds of Australia

 Life history

Seabirds' life histories are largely different from those of land birds. In general, they are K-selected, that is, population numbers fluctuate at or near the carrying capacity of the environment in which they inhabit. K-selected species generally have a longer lifespan (up to 60 years), delay breeding for longer (for up to 10 years) and invest more effort into fewer young (Robertson 1993; Schreiber and Burger 2002). Most seabird species will only have one clutch a year, unless they lose the first, and many species (like the procellariids and sulids), only one egg a year (Schreiber and Burger 2002; Brooke 2004).
Care of young is protracted, extending for as long as six months, among the longest for birds. For example, frigatebirds have long periods of parental care with each chick fledging after four to six months and continued parental investment for up to 14 months (Metz and Schreiber 2002). Due to the extended period of care, breeding occurs every two years rather than annually for some species. This life-history strategy has likely evolved both in response to the challenges of living at sea (collecting widely scattered prey items), the frequency of breeding failures due to unfavourable marine conditions, and the relative lack of predation compared to that of land-living birds (Schreiber and Burger 2002).
Because of the greater investment in raising the young and because foraging for food may occur far from the nest site, both parents participate in caring for the young, and pairs are typically at least seasonally monogamous. Many species, such as gulls, shearwaters and penguins, retain the same mate for several seasons, and many petrel species can mate for life (Brooke 2004). Albatrosses and procellariids, which can mate for life, take many years to form a pair bond before they breed (Pickering and Berrow 2001; Brooke 2004).

 Breeding

Seabird breeding colonies are