Species-specific foraging strategies and segregation mechanisms of sympatric Antarctic fulmarine petrels throughout the annual cycle
Résumé
Determining the year-round distribution and behaviour of birds is necessary for a better
understanding of their ecology and foraging strategies. Petrels form an important component
of the high-latitude seabird assemblages in terms of species and individuals. The distribution
and foraging ecology of three sympatric fulmarine petrels (Southern Fulmar
Fulmarus glacialoides, Cape Petrel Daption capense and Snow Petrel Pagodroma nivea)
were studied at Adelie Land, East Antarctica, by combining information from miniaturized
saltwater immersion geolocators and stable isotopes from feathers. During the
breeding season at a large spatial scale (c. 200 km), the three species overlapped in their
foraging areas located in the vicinity of the colonies but were segregated by their diet
and trophic level, as indicated by the different chick d15N values that increased in the
order Cape Petrel < Southern Fulmar < Snow Petrel. During the non-breeding season,
the three fulmarines showed species-specific migration strategies along a wide latitudinal
gradient. Snow Petrels largely remained in ice-associated Antarctic waters, Southern Fulmars
targeted primarily the sub-Antarctic zone and Cape Petrels migrated further north.
Overall, birds spent less time in flight during the non-breeding period than during the
breeding season, with the highest percentage of time spent sitting on the water occurring
during the breeding season and at the beginning of the non-breeding period before
migration. This activity pattern, together with the d13C values of most feathers, strongly
suggests that moult of the three fulmarine petrels occurred at that time in the very productive
high Antarctic waters, where birds fed on a combination of crustaceans and fish.
The study highlights different segregating mechanisms that allow the coexistence of closely
related species, specifically, prey partitioning during the breeding season and spatial
segregation at sea during the non-breeding season.