Summary
Time-at-depth data, recorded by animal-attached miniature depth gauges, were examined in 8 Gentoo Penguins. Birds showed two depth utiliuation patterns, (1) decreasing time with increasing depth, which we interpret as due to “bounce-diving” in the pelagic zone and (2) constant time per depth interval down to specific depths where large time peaks were encountered. We interprete this as “flat-bottomed” diving in benthic-foraging birds. Multiple maximum depth data reported in the literature for various penguin species were analysed to try and reconstruct proportional time-at-depth. These results, together with real time-at-depth data, indicated that penguin depth utilization was strongly mass dependent with larger species spending a greater proportion of time in deeper water.
Zusammenfassung
Miniatur-Tiefenmeßgeräte wurden 8 Eselpinguinen angeheftet und die gewonnenen Daten der Aufenthaltsdauer in verschiedenen Wassertiefen untersucht. Die Vögel zeigten zwei Muster der Tiefenausnutzung, (1) abnehmende Aufenthaltsdauer mit zunehmender Wassertiefe, das wir als „Stoßtauchen“ im Pelagial interpretieren und (2) konstante Aufenthaltsdauer pro Tiefenintervall bis in bestimmte Tiefen, in denen lange Verweildauer registriert wurden. Letzteres interpretieren wir als „Grundtauchen“ bei Vögeln, die am Meeresboden nach Nahrung suchen. Aus der Literatur wurden „multiple Tiefenmaxima“ für verschiedene Pinguinarten entnommen und analysiert, um die Aufenthaltsdauer pro Tiefenintervall zu rekonstruieren. Diese Ergebnisse zeigen zusammen mit tatsächlichen Meßdaten, daß die Tiefenausnutzung der Pinguine stark massenabhängig ist, wobei größere Arten eine größeren Zeitanteil in tieferem Wasser verbringen.
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Wilson, R.P., Culik, B., Spairani, H.J. et al. Depth utilization by Penguins and Gentoo Penguin dive patterns. J Ornithol 132, 47–60 (1991). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01640525
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01640525