The food feeding ecology of the white-chinned petrel Procellaria aequinctialis at South Georgia

The diet of the white-chinned petrel at Bird Island, South Georgia was studied during chickrearing in 1986 by quantitative analysis (by weight, frequency of occurrence and number of individuals) of regurgitated or lavaged adult stomach contents. Antarctic krill comprised over 90% of prey items and f...

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Published in:Journal of Zoology
Main Authors: Croxall, J. P., Hall, A. J., Hill, H. J., North, A. W., Rodhouse, P. G.
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:unknown
Published: Zoological Society of London 1995
Subjects:
Online Access:http://nora.nerc.ac.uk/id/eprint/515574/
https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1469-7998.1995.tb02752.x
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spelling ftnerc:oai:nora.nerc.ac.uk:515574 2023-05-15T13:49:33+02:00 The food feeding ecology of the white-chinned petrel Procellaria aequinctialis at South Georgia Croxall, J. P. Hall, A. J. Hill, H. J. North, A. W. Rodhouse, P. G. 1995-09 http://nora.nerc.ac.uk/id/eprint/515574/ https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1469-7998.1995.tb02752.x unknown Zoological Society of London Croxall, J. P.; Hall, A. J.; Hill, H. J.; North, A. W.; Rodhouse, P. G. 1995 The food feeding ecology of the white-chinned petrel Procellaria aequinctialis at South Georgia. Journal of Zoology, 237 (1). 133-150. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1469-7998.1995.tb02752.x <https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1469-7998.1995.tb02752.x> Publication - Article PeerReviewed 1995 ftnerc https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1469-7998.1995.tb02752.x 2023-02-04T19:44:05Z The diet of the white-chinned petrel at Bird Island, South Georgia was studied during chickrearing in 1986 by quantitative analysis (by weight, frequency of occurrence and number of individuals) of regurgitated or lavaged adult stomach contents. Antarctic krill comprised over 90% of prey items and formed 47% of the diet by weight; fish and squid occurred in 67% and 35% of samples and formed 33% and 19% of the diet by weight, respectively. Decapods, amphipods and salps occurred in a few samples. The fish were mainly lanternfish (Myctophidae) of eight species (chiefly Electrona and Gymnoscopelus, forming 80% by number and 52% by mass of fish prey) and the nototheniid Patagonotothen guntheri (14% by number and 35% by mass). Of squid taken, the ommastrephid Martialia hyadesi comprised 57% by number and 52% by mass and the gonatid Gonatus antarcticus 14% by number and 42% by mass. These dietary data confirm white-chinned petrel as the most important avian consumer of fish and squid at South Georgia (and the third most important consumer of krill). In 1986 the nototheniid fish were probably obtained via commercial fishing operations but the myctophids and squid were probably live-caught, most likely at night. Meal size increased rapidly until chicks were three weeks old and then remained constant until the chicks were within 10 days of fledging, when it decreased. Meal delivery rate was high (one per day) for young chicks (1–10 days old) and thereafter fluctuated between 0.56 and 0.88 meals per day until close to fledging, when it was halved. These provisioning rates, and the proportion of krill in the diet, are higher than those recorded previously at South Georgia and Indian Ocean sites, probably reflecting high local availability of krill at South Georgia in 1986. In many respects, white-chinned petrels at South Georgia are intermediate ecologically between prions and albatrosses, although specialized in their extensive consumption of myctophids. Because krill and all the main fish prey are currently the targets of ... Article in Journal/Newspaper Antarc* Antarctic Antarctic Krill antarcticus Bird Island Natural Environment Research Council: NERC Open Research Archive Antarctic Indian Bird Island ENVELOPE(-38.060,-38.060,-54.004,-54.004) Journal of Zoology 237 1 133 150
institution Open Polar
collection Natural Environment Research Council: NERC Open Research Archive
op_collection_id ftnerc
language unknown
description The diet of the white-chinned petrel at Bird Island, South Georgia was studied during chickrearing in 1986 by quantitative analysis (by weight, frequency of occurrence and number of individuals) of regurgitated or lavaged adult stomach contents. Antarctic krill comprised over 90% of prey items and formed 47% of the diet by weight; fish and squid occurred in 67% and 35% of samples and formed 33% and 19% of the diet by weight, respectively. Decapods, amphipods and salps occurred in a few samples. The fish were mainly lanternfish (Myctophidae) of eight species (chiefly Electrona and Gymnoscopelus, forming 80% by number and 52% by mass of fish prey) and the nototheniid Patagonotothen guntheri (14% by number and 35% by mass). Of squid taken, the ommastrephid Martialia hyadesi comprised 57% by number and 52% by mass and the gonatid Gonatus antarcticus 14% by number and 42% by mass. These dietary data confirm white-chinned petrel as the most important avian consumer of fish and squid at South Georgia (and the third most important consumer of krill). In 1986 the nototheniid fish were probably obtained via commercial fishing operations but the myctophids and squid were probably live-caught, most likely at night. Meal size increased rapidly until chicks were three weeks old and then remained constant until the chicks were within 10 days of fledging, when it decreased. Meal delivery rate was high (one per day) for young chicks (1–10 days old) and thereafter fluctuated between 0.56 and 0.88 meals per day until close to fledging, when it was halved. These provisioning rates, and the proportion of krill in the diet, are higher than those recorded previously at South Georgia and Indian Ocean sites, probably reflecting high local availability of krill at South Georgia in 1986. In many respects, white-chinned petrels at South Georgia are intermediate ecologically between prions and albatrosses, although specialized in their extensive consumption of myctophids. Because krill and all the main fish prey are currently the targets of ...
format Article in Journal/Newspaper
author Croxall, J. P.
Hall, A. J.
Hill, H. J.
North, A. W.
Rodhouse, P. G.
spellingShingle Croxall, J. P.
Hall, A. J.
Hill, H. J.
North, A. W.
Rodhouse, P. G.
The food feeding ecology of the white-chinned petrel Procellaria aequinctialis at South Georgia
author_facet Croxall, J. P.
Hall, A. J.
Hill, H. J.
North, A. W.
Rodhouse, P. G.
author_sort Croxall, J. P.
title The food feeding ecology of the white-chinned petrel Procellaria aequinctialis at South Georgia
title_short The food feeding ecology of the white-chinned petrel Procellaria aequinctialis at South Georgia
title_full The food feeding ecology of the white-chinned petrel Procellaria aequinctialis at South Georgia
title_fullStr The food feeding ecology of the white-chinned petrel Procellaria aequinctialis at South Georgia
title_full_unstemmed The food feeding ecology of the white-chinned petrel Procellaria aequinctialis at South Georgia
title_sort food feeding ecology of the white-chinned petrel procellaria aequinctialis at south georgia
publisher Zoological Society of London
publishDate 1995
url http://nora.nerc.ac.uk/id/eprint/515574/
https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1469-7998.1995.tb02752.x
long_lat ENVELOPE(-38.060,-38.060,-54.004,-54.004)
geographic Antarctic
Indian
Bird Island
geographic_facet Antarctic
Indian
Bird Island
genre Antarc*
Antarctic
Antarctic Krill
antarcticus
Bird Island
genre_facet Antarc*
Antarctic
Antarctic Krill
antarcticus
Bird Island
op_relation Croxall, J. P.; Hall, A. J.; Hill, H. J.; North, A. W.; Rodhouse, P. G. 1995 The food feeding ecology of the white-chinned petrel Procellaria aequinctialis at South Georgia. Journal of Zoology, 237 (1). 133-150. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1469-7998.1995.tb02752.x <https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1469-7998.1995.tb02752.x>
op_doi https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1469-7998.1995.tb02752.x
container_title Journal of Zoology
container_volume 237
container_issue 1
container_start_page 133
op_container_end_page 150
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