Summer diet of king penguins (Aptenodytes patagonicus) at the Falkland Islands, southern Atlantic Ocean.

• Main Authors: Yves Cherel, A E Klemens, Pu¨tz Ae, Keith A Hobson
• Other Authors: The Pennsylvania State University CiteSeerX Archives
• Format: Text
• Language: English
• Published: 2002
• Subjects: King Penguins
• Online Access: http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/summary?doi=10.1.1.1062.2796; http://www.cebc.cnrs.fr/publipdf/2002/CPB25.pdf

Abstract The diet of king penguins (Aptenodytes patagonicus) brooding chicks was investigated during February 2001 at the Falkland Islands, where a small but increasing population is located at the limit of the breeding range of this species. Fish was the most important food source by number (98.0%) and reconstituted mass (97.8%), squids accounting for the remainder. Myctophid fishes represented the main part of the diet (97.7% by number and 96.6% by reconstituted mass), Protomyctophum choriodon being by far the main prey item (84.2% and 88.1%, respectively). Four other myctophids and one squid species each contributed to more than 1% of the diet by number: Krefftichthys anderssoni (4