Abstract
Cory’s Shearwater, Calonectris diomedea, is a pelagic seabird that winters in the waters off the state of Rio Grande do Sul in southern Brazil. Elsewhere, its diet is comprised mostly of fish and cephalopods, but dietary details out of the breeding season are unknown. The present study analysed the diet of Cory’s Shearwater along the coast of Rio Grande do Sul based on the stomach contents of 185 birds found dead during beach surveys between July 1997 and July 1998. Food items were classified taxonomically and non-food items were categorized. The taxa identified included the cephalopods Argonauta nodosa and Histioteuthis sp. and the fish Paralonchurus brasiliensis, Porichthys porosissimus, and Prionotus punctatus. Cephalopods were present in 97% of stomachs and fish in 33% of stomachs. Synthetic materials were found in 81% of stomachs. Our data corroborate the general ideas of Procellariiform diet during migration. The high amount of synthetic materials indicates the pollution of the marine environments of southern Brazil and we call attention to this situation.
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Acknowledgments
We thank UNISINOS for infrastructure support and UNESCO/MAB for financial support. We thank Dr. Manuel Haimovici and the research team at the Laboratory of Demersal Resources of the Fundação Universidade de Rio Grande for their assistance in the identification of cephalopods and otoliths. We also thank our colleagues at the Laboratory of Ornithology and Sea Animals from UNISINOS. We appreciate the improvements in English usage made by Peter Lowther through the Association of Field Ornithologists’ program of editorial assistance. The study complies with Brazilian laws on collecting dead animals.
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Communicated by P.H. Becker.
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Petry, M.V., Krüger, L., da Silva Fonseca, V.S. et al. Diet and ingestion of synthetics by Cory’s Shearwater Calonectris diomedea off southern Brazil. J Ornithol 150, 601–606 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10336-009-0373-7
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10336-009-0373-7