Walrus (Odobenus rosmarus) predation on adult thick-billed murres (Uria lomvia) at Coats Island, Nunavut, Canada

Although the diet of walrus (Odobenus rosmarus) is considered varied, records of walrus consuming marine birds are rare in the published literature. In 2001 and 2002 we observed walrus foraging on adult thick-billed murres (Uria lomvia) at Coats Island in Nunavut, Canada. Approximately 46% of the at...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Polar Research
Main Authors: Mallory, Mark L., Woo, Kerry, Gaston, Anthony J., Davies, W. Eric, Mineau, Pierre
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:English
Published: Norwegian Polar Institute 2004
Subjects:
Coats Island
Nunavut
Odobenus rosmarus
Polar Research
Uria lomvia
uria
walrus*
Online Access:https://polarresearch.net/index.php/polar/article/view/2077
https://doi.org/10.3402/polar.v23i1.6270
Description
Summary:Although the diet of walrus (Odobenus rosmarus) is considered varied, records of walrus consuming marine birds are rare in the published literature. In 2001 and 2002 we observed walrus foraging on adult thick-billed murres (Uria lomvia) at Coats Island in Nunavut, Canada. Approximately 46% of the attacks on murres were successful, and as many as 67 murres may have been killed in one day in August 2002. All soft parts of the murres were sucked out, with carcasses of only bones, feathers and skin left floating on the water. The extent to which predation on seabirds by walrus occurs across the eastern Arctic is unknown, but it could represent an important source of mortality for murres at some breeding colonies.

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