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Foraging behaviour and habitat use by Indian Yellow-nosed Albatrosses (Thalassarche carteri) breeding at Prince Edward Island

Foraging behaviour and habitat use by Indian Yellow-nosed Albatrosses (Thalassarche carteri) breeding at Prince Edward Island
Foraging behaviour and habitat use by Indian Yellow-nosed Albatrosses (Thalassarche carteri) breeding at Prince Edward Island

Demographic parameters of wild animals are often closely associated with their foraging distribution and behaviour, and understanding these attributes can assist in identifying causes of population changes. The Indian Yellow-nosed Albatross (Thalassarche carteri) is endangered but little information is available on its at-sea distribution and behaviour. It breeds only in French (Iles Amsterdam, St Paul, Kerguelen and Crozet) and South African (Prince Edward Island, PEI) territories in the south-west Indian Ocean, with PEI supporting about 20% of the global population. This study aimed to investigate the at-sea distributions of adult Indian Yellow-nosed Albatrosses provisioning chicks at PEI and to compare them with distributions of Yellow-nosed Albatrosses breeding at other localities. Using satellite transmitters, we identified two areas that were particularly favoured for foraging. Parents whose partners were brooding small chicks frequently moved north-east of PEI to shallow, productive waters where cold, nutrient-rich water upwells and results in enhanced levels of chlorophyll-a. By contrast, parents with older chicks that could be left unattended often foraged along the Agulhas Bank where eddies and shear forces promote vertical mixing. The at-sea distribution of birds breeding at PEI was located between those reported for Indian Yellow-nosed Albatrosses breeding at Ile Amsterdam and Atlantic Yellow-nosed Albatrosses (T. chlororhynchos) breeding at Gough Island, so that birds from these localities may face different threats at sea. Our study is the first to highlight key feeding areas for Indian Yellow-nosed Albatrosses from PEI and to demonstrate partitioning of foraging grounds by Yellow-nosed Albatrosses from different localities.

Environmental parameters, Feeding habitat characteristics, foraging ground partitioning, seabirds, state-space model
0158-4197
353-362
Makhado, A. B.
33039c27-9987-4b7a-b95a-3745db700c14
Crawford, R. J.M.
70efab42-9994-4a63-8923-cdd1fd101474
Dias, M. P.
46aeb281-00f7-4048-887e-f238f0dbb494
Dyer, B. M.
023656fa-a133-4690-badc-ea3d894ad08e
Lamont, T.
0c872100-81b8-4dca-9636-a0c651a41bb7
Pistorius, P.
5a585272-2721-45dd-9384-56a05a477b36
Ryan, P. G.
e0459c57-0c5e-43c4-b48b-7043faaf4df0
Upfold, L.
2677547c-ae7a-44ef-be2a-9b72634b8a49
Weimerskirch, H.
fb5128e3-1789-4c1b-91b7-cabd1d8d7547
Reisinger, R. R.
4eaf9440-48e5-41fa-853f-d46457e5444e
Makhado, A. B.
33039c27-9987-4b7a-b95a-3745db700c14
Crawford, R. J.M.
70efab42-9994-4a63-8923-cdd1fd101474
Dias, M. P.
46aeb281-00f7-4048-887e-f238f0dbb494
Dyer, B. M.
023656fa-a133-4690-badc-ea3d894ad08e
Lamont, T.
0c872100-81b8-4dca-9636-a0c651a41bb7
Pistorius, P.
5a585272-2721-45dd-9384-56a05a477b36
Ryan, P. G.
e0459c57-0c5e-43c4-b48b-7043faaf4df0
Upfold, L.
2677547c-ae7a-44ef-be2a-9b72634b8a49
Weimerskirch, H.
fb5128e3-1789-4c1b-91b7-cabd1d8d7547
Reisinger, R. R.
4eaf9440-48e5-41fa-853f-d46457e5444e

Makhado, A. B., Crawford, R. J.M., Dias, M. P., Dyer, B. M., Lamont, T., Pistorius, P., Ryan, P. G., Upfold, L., Weimerskirch, H. and Reisinger, R. R. (2018) Foraging behaviour and habitat use by Indian Yellow-nosed Albatrosses (Thalassarche carteri) breeding at Prince Edward Island. Emu, 118 (4), 353-362. (doi:10.1080/01584197.2018.1469959).

Record type: Article

Abstract

Demographic parameters of wild animals are often closely associated with their foraging distribution and behaviour, and understanding these attributes can assist in identifying causes of population changes. The Indian Yellow-nosed Albatross (Thalassarche carteri) is endangered but little information is available on its at-sea distribution and behaviour. It breeds only in French (Iles Amsterdam, St Paul, Kerguelen and Crozet) and South African (Prince Edward Island, PEI) territories in the south-west Indian Ocean, with PEI supporting about 20% of the global population. This study aimed to investigate the at-sea distributions of adult Indian Yellow-nosed Albatrosses provisioning chicks at PEI and to compare them with distributions of Yellow-nosed Albatrosses breeding at other localities. Using satellite transmitters, we identified two areas that were particularly favoured for foraging. Parents whose partners were brooding small chicks frequently moved north-east of PEI to shallow, productive waters where cold, nutrient-rich water upwells and results in enhanced levels of chlorophyll-a. By contrast, parents with older chicks that could be left unattended often foraged along the Agulhas Bank where eddies and shear forces promote vertical mixing. The at-sea distribution of birds breeding at PEI was located between those reported for Indian Yellow-nosed Albatrosses breeding at Ile Amsterdam and Atlantic Yellow-nosed Albatrosses (T. chlororhynchos) breeding at Gough Island, so that birds from these localities may face different threats at sea. Our study is the first to highlight key feeding areas for Indian Yellow-nosed Albatrosses from PEI and to demonstrate partitioning of foraging grounds by Yellow-nosed Albatrosses from different localities.

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More information

Published date: 2 October 2018
Keywords: Environmental parameters, Feeding habitat characteristics, foraging ground partitioning, seabirds, state-space model

Identifiers

Local EPrints ID: 455440
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/455440
ISSN: 0158-4197
PURE UUID: 7791febe-53ec-499e-8575-b6c32db2ad9c
ORCID for R. R. Reisinger: ORCID iD orcid.org/0000-0002-8933-6875

Catalogue record

Date deposited: 21 Mar 2022 17:55
Last modified: 18 Mar 2024 04:03

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Contributors

Author: A. B. Makhado
Author: R. J.M. Crawford
Author: M. P. Dias
Author: B. M. Dyer
Author: T. Lamont
Author: P. Pistorius
Author: P. G. Ryan
Author: L. Upfold
Author: H. Weimerskirch
Author: R. R. Reisinger ORCID iD

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