Foods of the south polar skua Catharacta maccormicki in the eastern Larsemann Hills, Princess Elizabeth Land, East Antarctica

Zipan, Wang; Norman, F.I.

doi:10.1007/bf00238761

Cited by 15 publications

(8 citation statements)

References 8 publications

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“…Pellet studies in contrast also report a substantial (20-89 %) contribution from penguins, both in sympatry (Peter et al 1990;Graña Grilli and Montalti 2011;this study) and in allopatry (e.g. Green 1986;Norman and Ward 1990), even without penguin colonies in the vicinity (Zipan and Norman 1993;Mund and Miller 1995). Pellet studies have underpinned the consensus view that penguins are a principal complement to fish in the diet of breeding South Polar Skuas, raising the possibility of food competition with more dominant Brown Skuas (Pietz 1987;Reinhardt et al 2000;Malzof and Quintana 2008).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 87%

Over-representation of bird prey in pellets of South Polar Skuas

et al. 2012

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 87%

Over-representation of bird prey in pellets of South Polar Skuas

et al. 2012

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“…Synchronous laying may reduce predation on eggs and chicks. The South Polar Skua Catharacta maccormicki is the main predator of Snow Petrels at some breeding sites (Zipan and Norman 1993), but at Terre Adélie South Polar Skuas feed almost exclusively on Adélie Penguins Pygoscelis adeliae (Jouventin and Guillotin 1979). Consequently, synchrony as a defence against predation seems unlikely as a general explanation for a compressed laying period and therefore synchrony presumably reflects timing with respect to the short favourable breeding period at these high latitudes (Warham 1990).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Body size and determinants of laying date variation in the Snow Petrel Pagodroma nivea

Barbraud¹,

Lormée²,

LeNevé³

2000

Journal of Avian Biology

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We studied several determinants of laying date variation and the relationship between laying date and reproductive success in the Snow Petrel Pagodroma nivea. The effects of female body size and condition, year, individual laying period, colony size, mate fidelity, previous reproductive success, and duration of the pre‐laying exodus on laying date, were investigated during a 3‐year study. The average laying date was 4 December. The laying period was compressed into 10–16 days and was very constant from year to year, both for the population as a whole and for individual females. The laying period of individual females varied from year to year on average by less than one day. Body size explained 24% of the variation in laying dates, with large females laying their egg later than small ones. Laying in large colonies occurred c. 2 days later than in small colonies, mainly because a higher proportion of large females bred in large colonies. There was no effect of mate fidelity, age, body condition and previous reproductive success on laying date, but the duration of the pre‐laying exodus was strongly correlated with laying date. Smaller females had shorter pre‐laying exodus (c. 17.7 days) than larger ones (c. 20.4 days). During the three years of the study reproductive success either increased, decreased or did not vary with laying date. Although body size is not maintained by selection on laying date alone, the genetic body size component of this species suggests that balancing selection on body size may act through laying date.

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“…These seabirds have opportunistic feeding habits, acting as predators, scavengers, and kleptoparasites (Maxson & Bernstein 1982, Norman & Ward 1990, Baker & Barbraud 2001. Their diets include a wide range of food items, including marine organisms (Votier et al 2003), other birds (Moller-Schwarze & Moller-Schwarze 1973, Trillmich 1978, Pietz 1987, Zipan & Norman 1993, Brooke et al 1999, and even garbage discarded by humans (Pietz 1987, Phillips et al 2004.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Pellets and prey remains have been used in qualitative studies of skua diets at a number of different Antarctic sites (Zipan & Norman 1993, Moncorps et al 1998, Baker & Barbraud 2001, Votier et al 2001, 2003 and may provide the best evidence for the comparison of diets among periods and sites (Votier et al 2003). Studies of the diets of sympatric skuas have been carried out in different areas of Antarctica.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Pellets and Prey Remains as Indicators of the Diet of Two Sympatric Skuas (Aves: Stercorariidae) on King George Island, Antarctica

et al. 2021

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South Polar skua (Stercorarius maccormicki) and Brown skua (Stercorarius antarcticus lonnbergi) have opportunistic feeding habits and are the dominant predators in terrestrial Polar regions. These skuas exploit a wide range of food items, including marine organisms, other birds, and even garbage. In the present study, we compare the diets of these two skua species during the breeding season, using pellets and prey remains collected within their territories. The samples were collected at six sites in Admiralty Bay, on King George Island, Antarctica. We identified eight different items, which we classified as “penguin”, “flying bird”, “skua”, “fish”, “gastropod”, “krill”, “egg” and “marine debris”. In the first breeding season (2008/2009), penguins and flying birds were the food resources more abundant for both skua species, and their diet composition was similar. In the second breeding season (2010/2011) South Polar skua exploited more fish and flying birds than Brown skua; the latter exploited more eggs and penguins. Our findings corroborate those of previous studies, demonstrating that in sympatry South Polar skua exploit more fish than Brown skua. The diet of South Polar skua also varied between breeding seasons, reflecting the opportunistic foraging behavior of these skuas. As in other studies, we recorded that skua is a food resource for both skua species, but it was more common in the diet of South Polar skua. Marine debris was recorded only in the samples of Brown skua. Birds are important food items for both skuas, although significant differences were found in the diets of these sympatric species, with shifts in the composition of the diet probably reflecting fluctuations in the abundance of prey populations, which are known to be common at Admiralty Bay, although more data will be needed to confirm this link.

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Foods of the south polar skua Catharacta maccormicki in the eastern Larsemann Hills, Princess Elizabeth Land, East Antarctica

Cited by 15 publications

References 8 publications

Over-representation of bird prey in pellets of South Polar Skuas

Over-representation of bird prey in pellets of South Polar Skuas

Body size and determinants of laying date variation in the Snow Petrel Pagodroma nivea

Pellets and Prey Remains as Indicators of the Diet of Two Sympatric Skuas (Aves: Stercorariidae) on King George Island, Antarctica

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