Breeding Synchrony in the Equatorial Swallow-Tailed Gull

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Abstract
The colonial, equatorial gull Larus furcatus nests throughout the year and depends on few, if any, environmental variables for breeding. There is no synchrony of breeding in the colony as a whole ("Darling Effect"). However, natural groupings of nests within the colony always demonstrated statistically significant breeding synchrony. This local synchrony is due to social stimulation which may be of two possible sorts, both of which could be mere consequences of the normal behavioral responses of reproduction; the selectively neutral synchrony would then be due to "behavioral pleiotropism." Alternatively, these responses could be enhanced by certain selection pressures which are independent of temporal variations in the environment.

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