Combination of At-Sea Activity, Geolocation and Feather Stable Isotopes Documents Where and When Seabirds Molt ...

• Main Authors: Cherel, Yves, Quillfeldt, Petra, Delord, Karine, Weimerskirch, Henri, Justus Liebig University Giessen
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Universitätsbibliothek Gießen 2016
• Subjects: bodyfeathers; flightfeathers; inter-breedingperiod; petrels; Procellariiformes; SouthernOcean; winter; ddc570; Antarctic; Kerguelen; Kerguelen Islands; Strong Peak; Antarc*
• Online Access: https://dx.doi.org/10.22029/jlupub-114; https://jlupub.ub.uni-giessen.de//handle/jlupub/169

Key facets of the foraging ecology of seabirds during the inter-breeding period still remain poorly understood because of the difficulty of studying them at sea, including during the energy-demanding molting stage. Here, the extent to which three sympatric petrels (Antarctic and thin-billed prions, and blue petrel) from the subantarctic Kerguelen Islands modify their foraging ecology during molt was investigated using a combination of complementary tools, namely miniaturized saltwater immersion geolocators (GLS) and the isotopic method. Firstly, molting behavior was first characterized in the blue petrel, a reference species that is known to renew its plumage in autumn. GLS and feather stable isotopes (δ13C as a proxy of the birds' foraging habitat) indicated that the post-breeding molt of blue petrel occurred in Antarctic waters. Importantly, activity recorders showed that molt was marked by a strong peak in time spent daily sitting on water, which thereafter declined to lower values during the remaining ...