La Tour du Valat

Institut de recherche pour la conservation des zones humides méditerranéennes

Titre :	Foraging behaviour of Pomarine Skuas off the Suffolk coast in winter 1999/2000
Auteurs :	Peter J. Dare, Auteur ; Paul Read, Auteur
Type de document :	Article
Dans :	British Birds (100(3) MAR 2007)
Article en page(s) :	138-142
Résumé :	Pomarine Skuas Stercorarius pomarinus occur regularly in small numbers in the southern North Sea during the winter months. During winter 1999/2000, exceptional numbers, up to 25, were present along the coast of Suffolk between December 1999 and April 2000. Studies of their feeding behaviour established that Kittiwake Rissa tridactyla formed the primary target species between early December and late January, when flocks followed shoals of sprats Sprattus sprattus into inshore waters. Numbers of Kittiwakes declined from mid January onwards, associated with the departure of the sprats, and Common Gull Larus canus then became the favoured target species. In comparison, attacks on larger gulls were less frequently noted, and no attacks were recorded on Black-headed Gulls L ridibundus. It is suggested that the change from active pursuit of feeding Kittiwakes to a more passive strategy, waiting and ambushing passing gulls, in late winter and early spring was an energy-efficient strategy to obtain food in situations where many potential victims were commuting between estuarine and terrestrial feeding areas and inshore resting areas.

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