Abstract
Southern giant petrels (Macronectes giganteus) are opportunistic generalists whose feeding strategies include hunting, scavenging and fishing. While seals are important for southern giant petrels as a source of carrion, we documented that live seals also provide feeding opportunities for southern giant petrels. We tracked breeding southern giant petrels from Harmony Point, Antarctica, during incubation and chick rearing with solar-powered GPS-UHF devices. Tracking results showed that animals often visited confirmed haul-out sites of seals, mainly Weddell seals (Leptonychotes weddellii). Feeding on seal faeces was confirmed by direct observation. Southern giant petrels were more likely to visit haul-out sites during incubation than during chick-rearing. This behaviour suggests that the birds fed on seal faeces mainly when fasting, which could last as long as 15 days. Seal faeces could be a resource consumed to quickly recover from the fast before leaving for a longer trip.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
References
Calenge C (2011) Home range estimation in R: the adehabitatHR Package. R vignette. Office national de la classe et de la faunesauvage, Auffargis
Carlini AR, Poljak S, Casaux R et al (2003) Southern elephant seals breeding at Nelson Island, South Shetland Islands. Pol Polar Res 24:143–147
Casaux R, Baroni A, Carlini A (1997) The diet of the Weddell seal Leptonychotes weddelli at Harmony Point, South Shetland Islands. Polar Biol 18:371–375. https://doi.org/10.1007/s003000050202
Casaux R, Baroni A, Ramón A (2006) The diet of the Weddell Seal Leptonychotes weddellii at the Danco Coast, Antarctic Peninsula. Polar Biol 29:257–262. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00300-005-0048-7
de Bruyn PJN, Cooper J, Bester MN, Tosh CA (2007) The importance of land-based prey for sympatrically breeding giant petrels at sub-Antarctic Marion Island. Antarct Sci 19:25–30. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0954102007000053
Forero MG, González-Solís J, Hobson KA, Donázar JA, Bertellotti M, Blanco G, Bortolotti GR (2005) Stable isotopes reveal trophic segregation by sex and age in the southern giant petrel in two different food webs. Mar Ecol Prog Ser 296:107–113. https://doi.org/10.3354/meps296107
González-Solís J, Croxall JP, Wood AG (2000) Sexual dimorphism and sexual segregation in foraging strategies of northern giant petrels, Macronectes halli, during incubation. Oikos 90:390–398. https://doi.org/10.1034/j.1600-0706.2000.900220.x
Harris CM, Carr R, Lorenz K, Jones S (2015) Important bird areas in Antarctica. BirdLife International and Environmental Research & Assessment Ltd., Cambridge
Hunter S (1984) Breeding biology and population dynamics of giant petrels Macronectes at South Georgia (Aves: Procellariiformes). J Zool 203:441–460
Krüger L (2019) An update on the Southern giant petrels Macronectes giganteus breeding at Harmony Point, Nelson Island, Maritime Antarctic Peninsula. Polar Biol 42:1205–1208. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00300-019-02504-5
Kuznetsova A, Brockhoff PB, Christensen RHB (2018) lmerTest package: tests in linear mixed effects models. J Stat Softw. https://doi.org/10.18637/jss.v082.i13
Markones N, Dierschke V, Garthe S (2009) Seasonal differences in at-sea activity of seabirds underline high energetic demands during the breeding period. J Ornithol 151:329–336. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10336-009-0459-2
Raya Rey A, Polito M, Archuby D, Coria N (2012) Stable isotopes identify age-and sex-specific dietary partitioning and foraging habitat segregation in Southern giant petrels breeding in Antarctica and southern Patagonia. Mar Biol 159:1317–1326. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00227-012-1912-y
Rodrigues WF, Oliveira FS, Schaefer CE, Leite MG, Gauzzi T, Bockheim JG, Putzke J (2019) Soil-landscape interplays at Harmony Point, Nelson Island, Maritime Antarctica: Chemistry, mineralogy and classification. Geomorphology 336:77–94. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.geomorph.2019.03.030
Samiuddin M, El-Sayyad GM (1990) On nonparametric Kernel density estimates. Biometrika 77:865–874. https://doi.org/10.1093/biomet/77.4.865
Schulz UH, Kruger L, Petry MV (2014) Southern giant petrel Macronectes giganteus nest attendance patterns under extreme weather conditions. Zool Sci 31:501–506. https://doi.org/10.2108/zs130135
Acknowledgements
This study benefited from the Marine Protected Areas program of the Instituto Antártico Chileno. Data used for this study was collected using funding from FONDECYT (Fondecyt Iniciación 11180175). We thank the Instituto Antártico Chileno, Base Escudero, RS Karpuj and the Chilean Navy Vessel OPV Marinero Fuentealba for logistical support, and Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nivel Superior (CAPES) for providing a PhD scholarship for Julia V. G. Finger (Finance Code 001). Entrance to Harmony Point Antarctic Specially Protected Area was authorized by Instituto Antártico Chileno. Animal ethics were evaluated and approved by Instituto Antártico Chileno and the Comité Ético Cientifico de la Universidad de Magallanes. The authors thank Jared R. Towers and Mariano Sironi for their comments during the review process.
Funding
This study was funded by FONDECYT (Fondecyt Iniciación 11180175) and Instituto Antártico Chileno (Programa de Áreas Marinas Protegidas).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Contributions
L.K. idealized the study. D.H.C., J.V.G.F. and L.K. equally contributed to data sampling, analysing and manuscript writing.
Corresponding author
Ethics declarations
Conflict of interest
The authors declare no conflicts of interest.
Ethical approval
Animal ethics were evaluated and approved by Instituto Antártico Chileno and the Comité Ético Cientifico de la Universidad de Magallanes.
Research involving human and animal rights
Applicable guidelines for the care and use of wild animals for scientific investigation at the international, national and/or institutional levels were followed, as evaluated and approved by the Instituto Antártico Chileno and the Comité Ético Cientifico de la Universidad de Magallanes.
Additional information
Publisher’s Note
Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Corá, D.H., Finger, J.V.G. & Krüger, L. Coprophagic behaviour of southern giant petrels (Macronectes giganteus) during breeding period. Polar Biol 43, 2111–2116 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00300-020-02757-5
Received:
Revised:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00300-020-02757-5