Timing of foraging by the wandering albatross diomedea exulans

• Main Authors: Cooper, John, Wilson, Rory P., Adams, Nigel J.
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: National Institute of Polar Research 1993
• Subjects: Antarctic; Antarc*; Diomedea exulans; Marion Island; Polar Biology; Proceedings of the NIPR Symposium on Polar Biology; Wandering Albatross
• Online Access: https://oceanrep.geomar.de/id/eprint/42184/; https://oceanrep.geomar.de/id/eprint/42184/1/contents110001045319.pdf

Deployment of devices which record timing and magnitude of food ingestion in two wandering albatrosses Diomedea exulans at sub-Antarctic Marion Island shows that feeding occurred both at night and during the day, but with most ingestion events (70%) occurring during daylight hours . Seventy-six per cent of the estimated mass of food was ingested during the day. Earlier works concluded that foraging occurred mostly during the night. We suggest that noctumal foraging represents mostly capture of live prey close to the water surface, Daytime foraging is suggested to be mainly for moribund prey that has floated to the surface. Duration of foraging trips and timing of arrival back at the nest are similar to those reported elsewhere. The arrival of females soon after dawn is considered to be a consequence of a reluctance to land on the island at night. Differences in the temporal pattern of male and female arrivals may reflect sex-specific foraging patterns.