Coping with darkness and low temperatures: foraging strategies in Steller's eiders, Polysticta stelleri , wintering at high latitudes
To examine how Steller's eiders, Polysticta stelleri, wintering at 70°N cope with adverse winter conditions in terms of darkness and low temperatures, we studied their feeding behaviour during four periods between late autumn and early spring. Steller's eiders were most likely to feed duri...
Published in: | Canadian Journal of Zoology |
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Language: | English |
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2001
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Online Access: | http://dx.doi.org/10.1139/z00-213 http://www.nrcresearchpress.com/doi/pdf/10.1139/z00-213 |
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crcansciencepubl:10.1139/z00-213 2023-12-17T10:49:04+01:00 Coping with darkness and low temperatures: foraging strategies in Steller's eiders, Polysticta stelleri , wintering at high latitudes Systad, Geir Helge Bustnes, Jan Ove 2001 http://dx.doi.org/10.1139/z00-213 http://www.nrcresearchpress.com/doi/pdf/10.1139/z00-213 en eng Canadian Science Publishing http://www.nrcresearchpress.com/page/about/CorporateTextAndDataMining Canadian Journal of Zoology volume 79, issue 3, page 402-406 ISSN 0008-4301 1480-3283 Animal Science and Zoology Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics journal-article 2001 crcansciencepubl https://doi.org/10.1139/z00-213 2023-11-19T13:38:51Z To examine how Steller's eiders, Polysticta stelleri, wintering at 70°N cope with adverse winter conditions in terms of darkness and low temperatures, we studied their feeding behaviour during four periods between late autumn and early spring. Steller's eiders were most likely to feed during daylight and twilight, but they also fed during darkness. The incidence of feeding was highest at low tide, and there was a significant interaction between tidal cycle and winter period. Hence, the birds fed more intensively at low tide in midwinter (January) than during the other periods. Air temperatures were between 8 and 10°C lower in midwinter than during the other periods, and during this period the eiders also fed more by means of nondiving techniques (up-ending, surface feeding). The total estimated feeding time was highest in late autumn and midwinter (5.9 and 6.3 h were spent actively feeding, respectively) and lower in late winter and spring (5.1 and 4.6 h, respectively). Thus, as energy requirements increased as a result of low temperatures, Steller's eiders increased their feeding effort, but also reduced feeding costs by reducing diving depth. The results of this study suggest that the Steller's eider is behaviourally well adapted to survive winter at high latitudes at relatively low stress. Article in Journal/Newspaper Polysticta stelleri Canadian Science Publishing (via Crossref) Midwinter ENVELOPE(139.931,139.931,-66.690,-66.690) Canadian Journal of Zoology 79 3 402 406 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Canadian Science Publishing (via Crossref) |
op_collection_id |
crcansciencepubl |
language |
English |
topic |
Animal Science and Zoology Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics |
spellingShingle |
Animal Science and Zoology Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics Systad, Geir Helge Bustnes, Jan Ove Coping with darkness and low temperatures: foraging strategies in Steller's eiders, Polysticta stelleri , wintering at high latitudes |
topic_facet |
Animal Science and Zoology Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics |
description |
To examine how Steller's eiders, Polysticta stelleri, wintering at 70°N cope with adverse winter conditions in terms of darkness and low temperatures, we studied their feeding behaviour during four periods between late autumn and early spring. Steller's eiders were most likely to feed during daylight and twilight, but they also fed during darkness. The incidence of feeding was highest at low tide, and there was a significant interaction between tidal cycle and winter period. Hence, the birds fed more intensively at low tide in midwinter (January) than during the other periods. Air temperatures were between 8 and 10°C lower in midwinter than during the other periods, and during this period the eiders also fed more by means of nondiving techniques (up-ending, surface feeding). The total estimated feeding time was highest in late autumn and midwinter (5.9 and 6.3 h were spent actively feeding, respectively) and lower in late winter and spring (5.1 and 4.6 h, respectively). Thus, as energy requirements increased as a result of low temperatures, Steller's eiders increased their feeding effort, but also reduced feeding costs by reducing diving depth. The results of this study suggest that the Steller's eider is behaviourally well adapted to survive winter at high latitudes at relatively low stress. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Systad, Geir Helge Bustnes, Jan Ove |
author_facet |
Systad, Geir Helge Bustnes, Jan Ove |
author_sort |
Systad, Geir Helge |
title |
Coping with darkness and low temperatures: foraging strategies in Steller's eiders, Polysticta stelleri , wintering at high latitudes |
title_short |
Coping with darkness and low temperatures: foraging strategies in Steller's eiders, Polysticta stelleri , wintering at high latitudes |
title_full |
Coping with darkness and low temperatures: foraging strategies in Steller's eiders, Polysticta stelleri , wintering at high latitudes |
title_fullStr |
Coping with darkness and low temperatures: foraging strategies in Steller's eiders, Polysticta stelleri , wintering at high latitudes |
title_full_unstemmed |
Coping with darkness and low temperatures: foraging strategies in Steller's eiders, Polysticta stelleri , wintering at high latitudes |
title_sort |
coping with darkness and low temperatures: foraging strategies in steller's eiders, polysticta stelleri , wintering at high latitudes |
publisher |
Canadian Science Publishing |
publishDate |
2001 |
url |
http://dx.doi.org/10.1139/z00-213 http://www.nrcresearchpress.com/doi/pdf/10.1139/z00-213 |
long_lat |
ENVELOPE(139.931,139.931,-66.690,-66.690) |
geographic |
Midwinter |
geographic_facet |
Midwinter |
genre |
Polysticta stelleri |
genre_facet |
Polysticta stelleri |
op_source |
Canadian Journal of Zoology volume 79, issue 3, page 402-406 ISSN 0008-4301 1480-3283 |
op_rights |
http://www.nrcresearchpress.com/page/about/CorporateTextAndDataMining |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1139/z00-213 |
container_title |
Canadian Journal of Zoology |
container_volume |
79 |
container_issue |
3 |
container_start_page |
402 |
op_container_end_page |
406 |
_version_ |
1785573423817162752 |