Aspects of the foraging behaviour of the Antarctic Tern Sterna vittata
gaini at Harmony Point, South Shetland Islands |
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| Authors: | R Casaux A Baroni A Ramón M Favero P Silva |
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| Institution: | (1) Instituto Antártico Argentino, Cerrito 1248, 1010 Buenos Aires, Argentina;(2) Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas (CONICET), Av. Rivadavia 1917, 1033 Buenos Aires, Argentina;(3) Cátedra de Bromatología, Facultad de Farmacia y Bioquímica, Junín 956 2° Piso, 1113 Buenos Aires, Argentina;(4) Subsecretaría de Medioambiente, Municipalidad de Esquel, Mitre 524, 9200 Esquel, Chubut, Argentina;(5) Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales, Universidad de Mar del Plata, Funes 3250, 7600 Mar del Plata, Argentina;(6) Present address: Laboratorio de Investigaciones en Ecología y Sistemática Animal (LIESA), Ruta 259 km. 5, Planta de Aromáticas, 9200 Esquel, Chubut, Argentina |
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| Abstract: | During January and February of 2002 and 2003, we studied the diet of the Antarctic Tern Sterna vittata gaini at two colonies in Nelson Island, South Shetland Islands, by identifying the prey fed to chicks by breeders. The fish Notothenia coriiceps was the main prey in both seasons, followed by the myctophid Electrona antarctica, Antarctic krill Euphausia superba and gammarid amphipods. The contribution of fish to the diet increased as chicks grew older. Fish and amphipods were brought
to chicks during the day, whereas adults brought Antarctic krill at sunrise and sunset. Both the duration of the feeding trips
and the number of trips per foraging bout varied according to the type of prey caught. Preliminary information suggests that,
among other causes, the foraging strategy is strongly influenced by the predation pressure of skuas on chicks. Results are
compared with the only two previous study on the diet of the Antarctic Tern at the South Shetland Islands. |
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| Keywords: | Antarctic Tern Diet composition Antarctica |
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