Seabirds Foraging at Floating Seaweeds in the Northeast Atlantic

[摘要] TheinfluenceoffloatingseaweedpatchesonthedistributionandbehaviourofseabirdswasinvestigatedusingtheEuropeanSeabirdsAtSeadatabase(ESAS).Thepercentageofobservationsthatseabirdswereobservedwithfloatingseaweeddifferedamongspecies,dependingonthemodeofforaging.Theresultsindicatethatsurfacefeedingspeciesthatmakeshallowdives(ternsandRed-breastedMergansersMergusserrator)benefitmostfromthepresenceoffloatingseaweedsandtheirassociatedmacro-andichthyofauna.Specieshuntingforpelagicandbottom-dwellingprey(divers,GuillemotsUriaaalge,RazorbillsAlcatorda,PuffinsFraterculaarctica,GannetsSulabassanaandCormorantsPhalacrocoraxcarbo),andespeciallybenthosfeeders(CommonScotersMelanittanigraandEidersSomateriamollissima)werefrequentlyseeninassociationwithfloatingseaweeds,whileopportunistsandscavengerslikegullsandskuaswererecordedonfewoccasions.Petrelsandshearwaters(surface-seizing,pursuit-plunging,pursuit-diving)wereseldomlyseeninassociationwithfloatingseaweeds.Themostcommonbehaviouralactivitiesofthebirdsassociatedwithfloatingseaweedwerefoundtobesurfacepecking,activelysearching,andpursuitplunging.

[学科分类] 动物科学

[关键词] Feeding Strategy