ABSTRACT: Simulated social facilitation techniques (e.g. decoys and call playbacks) are commonly used to attract seabirds to restored and artificially created nesting habitats. However, a lack of social stimuli and conspecific cueing at these habitats may limit the use of these sites, at least in the short term. Therefore, testing the effectiveness of simulated audio-visual cues for attracting gregarious birds is important for conservation planning. In this study, we (1) assessed whether call playback and decoys were associated with an increased likelihood of Australian fairy terns Sternula nereis nereis visiting potentially suitable nesting habitats; (2) tested their behavioral response to different cues; and (3) documented whether social facilitation had the potential to encourage colony establishment. A full cross-over study design consisting of all possible pairings of decoy and call playback treatments (control [no attractants], decoys, call playback, both decoys and playback), allocated as part of a random block design, was undertaken at 2 sites. Linear modeling suggested that call playback was important in explaining the time spent aerial prospecting as well as the maximum number of fairy terns aerial prospecting, although this only appeared to be the case for 1 of the 2 sites. Decoys, on the other hand, did not appear to have any effect on time spent aerial prospecting. The results from this study suggest that audio cues have the potential to encourage site selection by increasing social stimuli, but attractants may be required over several breeding seasons before colonies are established.

中文翻译：

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保护规划的社会促进：了解仙女的行为和地点选择以响应同种视听线索

摘要：模拟社会促进技术（例如诱饵和呼叫回放）通常用于将海鸟吸引到恢复和人工创建的筑巢栖息地。然而，这些栖息地缺乏社会刺激和同种暗示可能会限制这些场所的使用，至少在短期内是这样。因此，测试模拟视听线索对吸引群居鸟类的有效性对于保护规划很重要。在这项研究中，我们 (1) 评估了呼叫回放和诱饵是否与澳大利亚仙女燕鸥Sternula nereis nereis 的可能性增加有关参观可能适合的筑巢栖息地；(2) 测试他们对不同线索的行为反应；(3) 记录社会促进是否有可能鼓励殖民地建立。在 2 个地点进行了一个完整的交叉研究设计，包括诱饵和呼叫回放治疗的所有可能配对（控制 [无引诱剂]、诱饵、呼叫回放、诱饵和回放），作为随机块设计的一部分进行分配. 线性模型表明，呼叫回放对于解释空中勘探所花费的时间以及仙女燕鸥空中勘探的最大数量很重要，尽管这似乎仅适用于 2 个站点中的 1 个。另一方面，诱饵似乎对空中勘探的时间没有任何影响。