Prospectors’ colony attendance is sex-specific and increases future recruitment chances in a seabird

In most long-lived vertebrates, including seabirds, young non-breeders often attend potential breeding sites. In seabird colonies, this prospecting behaviour has nearly never been studied with respect to potential sex-specific benefits, and its fitness consequences are largely unknown. We compared attendance patterns of sexed common tern prospectors at six subcolonies with future breeding status and nesting site choice. We also tested for potential effects of population density. Birds that arrived earlier at the colony were recorded more often along the season. This arrival effect was stronger in males, which generally spent more time at the colony. Birds prospecting for two consecutive years attended the colony more intensively in the second year. A high colony attendance enhanced recruitment probability in both sexes, but only in females, it was linked with a higher probability to return. Attendance at a preferred subcolony increased during the season. For first breeding, individuals favoured the subcolony where they had prospected most intensively in the previous season. In males, this subcolony fidelity was stronger and increased simultaneously to breeding pair density. We conclude that prospecting is a process of integration into the community of breeders, and that benefits are higher for males, the more territorial sex in this species.