Skuas at penguin carcass: patch use and state-dependent leaving decisions in a top-predator

Foraging decisions depend not only on simple maximization of energy intake but also on parallel fitness-relevant activities that change the forager's ‘state’. We characterized patch use and patch leaving rules of a top-predatory seabird, the Brown Skua (Catharacta antarctica lonnbergi), which d...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences
Main Authors: Hahn, Steffen, Peter, Hans-Ulrich, Bauer, Silke
Format: Text
Language:English
Published: The Royal Society 2005
Subjects:
Research Article
Antarctic
The Antarctic
Antarc*
Antarctica
Brown Skua
Online Access:http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1559825
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16011919
https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2005.3106
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Summary:Foraging decisions depend not only on simple maximization of energy intake but also on parallel fitness-relevant activities that change the forager's ‘state’. We characterized patch use and patch leaving rules of a top-predatory seabird, the Brown Skua (Catharacta antarctica lonnbergi), which during its reproductive period in the Antarctic establishes feeding territories in penguin colonies. In feeding trials, we observed how skuas foraged at penguin carcass patches and analysed patch leaving decisions by incorporating the estimated state of foraging birds and patch availability.

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