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Comparison of foraging strategies of incubating king penguins Aptenodytes patagonicus from Macquarie and Heard islands

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Abstract

The foraging strategies of king penguins from Heard and Macquarie islands were compared using satellite telemetry, time-depth recorders and diet samples. Trip durations were 16.8±3.6 days and 14.8±4.1 days at Macquarie and Heard islands, respectively. At Macquarie Island, total distances travelled were 1281±203 km compared to 1425±516 km at Heard Island. The total time the penguins spent at sea was 393±66 h at Macquarie Island and 369±108 h at Heard Island. The penguins from Macquarie Island performed more deep dives than those from Heard Island. King penguins from Macquarie Island travelled 1.5±0.2 km h−1 day−1 compared to 1.3±0.1 km h−1 day−1. At Macquarie Island, 19% of dives were upto 70–90 m depth compared to 35% at Heard Island. The main dietary prey species were the fish Krefftychthis anderssoni and the squid Moroteuthis ingens in both groups. The differences in the at-sea distribution and the foraging behaviour of the two groups of penguins were possibly related to differences in oceanography and bathymetric conditions around the two islands. Dietary differences may be due to interannual variability in prey availability since the two colonies were studied during incubation but in different years.

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Acknowledgements

We would like to thank all those who helped in the field and who made this work possible. Particular thanks go to Drs. Peter Dann and Simon Jarman for their support at Heard Island. Many thanks to Dr. Yves Cherel for his help in the identification of squid beaks and to three anonymous referees whose constructive comments improved the quality of this manuscript. This work was carried out as part of the Australian Antarctic Science program. Both studies were approved by the Australian Animal Ethics Committee (Department for the Environment and Heritage).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Australian Antarctic Division, 203 Channel Highway, Kingston, TAS, 7050, Australia

    Barbara Wienecke & Graham Robertson

Authors
  1. Barbara Wienecke
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  2. Graham Robertson
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Barbara Wienecke.

Appendix

Appendix

Trip characteristics of individual king penguins from Macquarie Island (1999) and Heard Island (2004) during incubation

 

Penguin

Maximal distance from colony (km)

Total travel distance (km)

Total time at sea (day)

Trip type

Macquarie Island

MK02

510

1,258

14.3

C

MK03

613

1,542

19.7

C

MK04

312

1,119

16.7

D

MK05

607

1,478

19.0

C

MK06

537

1,229

15.0

C

MK07

623

1,456

17.8

C

MK08

532

1,398

17.0

C

MK09

487

1,175

13.6

C

MK10

358

981

15.8

D

MK11

611

1,461

20.7

C

MK12

408

1,013

12.1

C

MK13

324

788

12.7

D

MK14

591

1,429

16.6

C

MK15

454

1,169

15.0

C

MK16

593

1,485

19.7

C

MK17

596

1,359

13.8

D

MK18

426

1,035

13.3

C

MK19

501

1,281

15.5

C

MK20

583

1,604

22.0

C

MK21

537

1,327

28.4

C

MK22

586

1,438

17.5

C

MK23

463

1,226

15.5

C

MK24

510

1,228

14.6

C

Heard Island

HK01

183

901

9.2

D

HK02*

277

631

5.7

D

HK03

422

1,667

17.6

D

HK04

348

1,891

16.8

D

HK05

245

1,286

12.0

C

HK06

275

2,010

14.2

C

HK07

329

1,533

14.4

C

HK08

226

1,388

16.1

C

HK09

230

1,489

16.3

D

HK10

161

916

10.5

D

HK11

286

1,303

13.0

D

HK12

277

1,566

14.0

C

HK13

311

1,271

11.8

D

HK14

228

1,021

15.0

D

HK15

235

1,744

15.0

D

HK16

282

2,083

17.3

C

HK17

273

1,731

17.0

C

HK18

255

1,203

12.8

C

HK19

424

2,578

21.2

C

HK20

435

1,475

14.9

C

HK21

206

693

7.8

C

  1. D, direct; C, circular
  2. * Denotes incomplete track

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Wienecke, B., Robertson, G. Comparison of foraging strategies of incubating king penguins Aptenodytes patagonicus from Macquarie and Heard islands. Polar Biol 29, 424–438 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00300-005-0074-5

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