King Penguins adjust foraging effort rather than diet when faced with poor foraging conditions

• Published in: Ibis
• Main Authors: Brisson‐Curadeau, Émile, Bost, Charles‐André, Cherel, Yves, Elliott, Kyle
• Other Authors: Conseil National de la Recherche Scientifique, Institut Polaire Français Paul Emile Victor, Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Wiley 2023
• Subjects: King Penguins
• Online Access: http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/ibi.13287; https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1111/ibi.13287

The links between foraging success, foraging effort and diet in a myctophid specialist seabird, the King Penguin Aptenodytes patagonicus , were investigated during seven breeding seasons using tracking and isotopic data. Despite the variable foraging conditions encountered by the birds, isotopic signatures (a proxy for diet) were invariable throughout the study. On the other hand, penguins stayed longer at sea when the foraging success indices (i.e. prey capture attempts per day and mass gained per day) were low. Although King Penguins can compensate for low prey capture rates by increasing foraging effort, their specialist diet during reproduction makes the species particularly sensitive to prey availability, with its conservation tightly linked to its main prey.