At-sea abundance and distribution of skuas and jaegers (Charadriiformes: Stercorariidae) at coastal waters off central Chile
Abstract Background Skuas and jaegers (Charadriiformes: Stercorariidae) are seabirds breeding at moderate to high latitudes and some perform extensive post-breeding transequatorial migrations. Most species overwinter and perform significant portions of their migratory flyways along the Pacific coast...
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BioMed Central Ltd.
2014
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ftbiomed:oai:biomedcentral.com:0717-6317-87-6 2023-05-15T13:39:03+02:00 At-sea abundance and distribution of skuas and jaegers (Charadriiformes: Stercorariidae) at coastal waters off central Chile Simeone, Alejandro Anguita, Cristóbal Luna-Jorquera, Guillermo 2014-07-15 http://www.revchilhistnat.com/content/87/1/6 en eng BioMed Central Ltd. http://www.revchilhistnat.com/content/87/1/6 Copyright 2014 Simeone et al.; licensee Springer. Skuas Jaegers Stercorariidae Seabirds Kleptoparasitism At-sea distribution Research 2014 ftbiomed 2014-07-20T00:33:51Z Abstract Background Skuas and jaegers (Charadriiformes: Stercorariidae) are seabirds breeding at moderate to high latitudes and some perform extensive post-breeding transequatorial migrations. Most species overwinter and perform significant portions of their migratory flyways along the Pacific coast of South America, but scant information is available on their at-sea ecology in this waters. Our aims in this study were to determine: 1) the timing of occurrence and fluctuations in abundance of skua and jaeger species, 2) their spatial distribution within the coastal zone and 3) at-sea behavior of birds, including flock size and interactions with other seabird species. Results Between July 2006 and October 2013, we conducted at-sea bird counts at Valparaiso Bay (33°S) in central Chile and confirmed the occurrence of Chilean skuas (Stercorarius chilensis), Brown skuas (S. antarcticus), and Parasitic jaegers (S. parasiticus). Parasitic jaegers are regular austral summer visitors (November to March), whereas Brown skuas occur in the area only in winter (July to October). Chilean skuas were regularly recorded year-round in the area with higher abundances between late winter and early spring (August to October). Brown and Chilean skuas where observed comparatively offshore, whereas Jaegers presented a more coastal distribution, probably associated to host presence. Chilean skuas kleptoparasitized similar-sized (shearwaters and fulmars) and larger seabird species (boobies), whereas jaegers chased only smaller coastal birds (gulls and terns). Brown skuas engaged in no kleptoparasitic behaviors. All three species were observed mostly as solitary individuals. Conclusions Skuas and jaegers showed in general a marked seasonality in their occurrence and abundance (only Chilean skua occurs year-round) and use this area as a commuting and stopover zone within their extensive migratory flyway along the southeastern Pacific. Other/Unknown Material Antarc* antarcticus BioMed Central Austral Pacific |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
BioMed Central |
op_collection_id |
ftbiomed |
language |
English |
topic |
Skuas Jaegers Stercorariidae Seabirds Kleptoparasitism At-sea distribution |
spellingShingle |
Skuas Jaegers Stercorariidae Seabirds Kleptoparasitism At-sea distribution Simeone, Alejandro Anguita, Cristóbal Luna-Jorquera, Guillermo At-sea abundance and distribution of skuas and jaegers (Charadriiformes: Stercorariidae) at coastal waters off central Chile |
topic_facet |
Skuas Jaegers Stercorariidae Seabirds Kleptoparasitism At-sea distribution |
description |
Abstract Background Skuas and jaegers (Charadriiformes: Stercorariidae) are seabirds breeding at moderate to high latitudes and some perform extensive post-breeding transequatorial migrations. Most species overwinter and perform significant portions of their migratory flyways along the Pacific coast of South America, but scant information is available on their at-sea ecology in this waters. Our aims in this study were to determine: 1) the timing of occurrence and fluctuations in abundance of skua and jaeger species, 2) their spatial distribution within the coastal zone and 3) at-sea behavior of birds, including flock size and interactions with other seabird species. Results Between July 2006 and October 2013, we conducted at-sea bird counts at Valparaiso Bay (33°S) in central Chile and confirmed the occurrence of Chilean skuas (Stercorarius chilensis), Brown skuas (S. antarcticus), and Parasitic jaegers (S. parasiticus). Parasitic jaegers are regular austral summer visitors (November to March), whereas Brown skuas occur in the area only in winter (July to October). Chilean skuas were regularly recorded year-round in the area with higher abundances between late winter and early spring (August to October). Brown and Chilean skuas where observed comparatively offshore, whereas Jaegers presented a more coastal distribution, probably associated to host presence. Chilean skuas kleptoparasitized similar-sized (shearwaters and fulmars) and larger seabird species (boobies), whereas jaegers chased only smaller coastal birds (gulls and terns). Brown skuas engaged in no kleptoparasitic behaviors. All three species were observed mostly as solitary individuals. Conclusions Skuas and jaegers showed in general a marked seasonality in their occurrence and abundance (only Chilean skua occurs year-round) and use this area as a commuting and stopover zone within their extensive migratory flyway along the southeastern Pacific. |
format |
Other/Unknown Material |
author |
Simeone, Alejandro Anguita, Cristóbal Luna-Jorquera, Guillermo |
author_facet |
Simeone, Alejandro Anguita, Cristóbal Luna-Jorquera, Guillermo |
author_sort |
Simeone, Alejandro |
title |
At-sea abundance and distribution of skuas and jaegers (Charadriiformes: Stercorariidae) at coastal waters off central Chile |
title_short |
At-sea abundance and distribution of skuas and jaegers (Charadriiformes: Stercorariidae) at coastal waters off central Chile |
title_full |
At-sea abundance and distribution of skuas and jaegers (Charadriiformes: Stercorariidae) at coastal waters off central Chile |
title_fullStr |
At-sea abundance and distribution of skuas and jaegers (Charadriiformes: Stercorariidae) at coastal waters off central Chile |
title_full_unstemmed |
At-sea abundance and distribution of skuas and jaegers (Charadriiformes: Stercorariidae) at coastal waters off central Chile |
title_sort |
at-sea abundance and distribution of skuas and jaegers (charadriiformes: stercorariidae) at coastal waters off central chile |
publisher |
BioMed Central Ltd. |
publishDate |
2014 |
url |
http://www.revchilhistnat.com/content/87/1/6 |
geographic |
Austral Pacific |
geographic_facet |
Austral Pacific |
genre |
Antarc* antarcticus |
genre_facet |
Antarc* antarcticus |
op_relation |
http://www.revchilhistnat.com/content/87/1/6 |
op_rights |
Copyright 2014 Simeone et al.; licensee Springer. |
_version_ |
1766114188413894656 |