Data from: Seabirds vary responses to supplemental food under dynamic natural prey availability and feeding aggregation composition ...

• Main Authors: Maynard, Laurie D., Carvalho, Paloma C., Davoren, Gail K.
• Format: Dataset
• Language: English
• Published: Dryad 2020
• Subjects: Larus argentatus; Ardenna grisea; Ardenna gravis; Fulmarus glacialis; foraging success; capelin; Mallotus villosus; procellarid; fisheries discards and offal; Larus marinus; mixed-species feeding assemblage; gull; optimal group size; Canada; Fulmar; Newfoundland; Northern Fulmar
• Online Access: https://dx.doi.org/10.5061/dryad.rr4g39b; https://datadryad.org/stash/dataset/doi:10.5061/dryad.rr4g39b

While foraging, a predator can feed solitarily or in a group. The net energy gain of joining a group is predicted to vary with prey patch quality, species-specific prey capture behavior and the size and species composition of the predator group. In coastal Newfoundland, Canada, capelin (Mallotus villosus), a key forage fish, migrates inshore to spawn during the summer, resulting in a dramatic shift in prey availability. During July-August, 2015-2017, we examined the numerical and behavioral responses of procellarid (Great Shearwater Ardenna gravis, Sooty Shearwater A. grisea, Northern Fulmar Fulmarus glacialis) and gull species (Herring Gull Larus argentatus, Great Black-backed Gull L. marinus) to fish offal under varying capelin availability as well as flock size and composition using an at-sea experiment on the northeast Newfoundland coast. The experiment consisted of providing a offal every 30 s (10-min experimental period), along with 10-min control periods before and after. We recorded the ... : Maynard_et al._2019_The AukMaynard_etal._2019_dryad.csv ...