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Foraging behaviour of common murres in the Baltic Sea, recorded by simultaneous attachment of GPS and time-depth recorder devices

Evans, Tom LU ; Kadin, Martina ; Olsson, Olof and Åkesson, Susanne LU (2013) In Marine Ecology - Progress Series 475. p.277-289
Abstract
Global positioning system and time-depth recorders were deployed in combination to investigate the foraging behaviour of common murres Uria aalge breeding at Stora Karlsö Island, Baltic Sea, during the chick-rearing period. In the pre-breeding period the main prey species of murres, sprat Sprattus sprattus, is targeted by commercial fisheries, likely reducing prey availability during the breeding season. Foraging trips typically consisted of a short flight followed by a period sitting on the sea surface (0.39 ± 0.48 h), followed by several (5.3 ± 3.8) diving bouts interspersed by flights and water surface activity. Following the final diving bout, murres returned directly to the colony. Overnight foraging trips lasted longer than daytime... (More)
Global positioning system and time-depth recorders were deployed in combination to investigate the foraging behaviour of common murres Uria aalge breeding at Stora Karlsö Island, Baltic Sea, during the chick-rearing period. In the pre-breeding period the main prey species of murres, sprat Sprattus sprattus, is targeted by commercial fisheries, likely reducing prey availability during the breeding season. Foraging trips typically consisted of a short flight followed by a period sitting on the sea surface (0.39 ± 0.48 h), followed by several (5.3 ± 3.8) diving bouts interspersed by flights and water surface activity. Following the final diving bout, murres returned directly to the colony. Overnight foraging trips lasted longer than daytime trips, and that result corresponded with greater diving activity and reduced dive depths around dawn and dusk, likely times of high prey accessibility. High outward flight groundspeeds (20.0 ± 2.8 m s-1) were aided by tailwinds, and lower inward flight groundspeeds (15.1 ± 2.5 m s-1) were impeded by headwinds. Flights following the wind direction may reflect a strategy to reduce crosswind drift. Foraging intensity was lower than reported by most other studies of murres, suggesting more abundant or aggregated prey. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
; ; and
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
keywords
Foraging behaviour, Diving behaviour, Uria aalge, Common murre, Wildlife telemetry, Data loggers, Baltic Sea
in
Marine Ecology - Progress Series
volume
475
pages
277 - 289
publisher
Inter-Research
external identifiers
  • wos:000314935000021
  • scopus:84874093394
ISSN
1616-1599
DOI
10.3354/meps10125
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
ce755b43-c558-455e-90f3-6452b7c3d77d (old id 3469538)
alternative location
http://www.int-res.com/abstracts/meps/v475/p277-289/
http://www.int-res.com/articles/meps2013/475/m475p277.pdf
http://www.int-res.com/abstracts/meps/v475/p277-289/
date added to LUP
2016-04-01 11:12:05
date last changed
2022-04-20 17:45:05
@article{ce755b43-c558-455e-90f3-6452b7c3d77d,
  abstract     = {{Global positioning system and time-depth recorders were deployed in combination to investigate the foraging behaviour of common murres Uria aalge breeding at Stora Karlsö Island, Baltic Sea, during the chick-rearing period. In the pre-breeding period the main prey species of murres, sprat Sprattus sprattus, is targeted by commercial fisheries, likely reducing prey availability during the breeding season. Foraging trips typically consisted of a short flight followed by a period sitting on the sea surface (0.39 ± 0.48 h), followed by several (5.3 ± 3.8) diving bouts interspersed by flights and water surface activity. Following the final diving bout, murres returned directly to the colony. Overnight foraging trips lasted longer than daytime trips, and that result corresponded with greater diving activity and reduced dive depths around dawn and dusk, likely times of high prey accessibility. High outward flight groundspeeds (20.0 ± 2.8 m s-1) were aided by tailwinds, and lower inward flight groundspeeds (15.1 ± 2.5 m s-1) were impeded by headwinds. Flights following the wind direction may reflect a strategy to reduce crosswind drift. Foraging intensity was lower than reported by most other studies of murres, suggesting more abundant or aggregated prey.}},
  author       = {{Evans, Tom and Kadin, Martina and Olsson, Olof and Åkesson, Susanne}},
  issn         = {{1616-1599}},
  keywords     = {{Foraging behaviour; Diving behaviour; Uria aalge; Common murre; Wildlife telemetry; Data loggers; Baltic Sea}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  pages        = {{277--289}},
  publisher    = {{Inter-Research}},
  series       = {{Marine Ecology - Progress Series}},
  title        = {{Foraging behaviour of common murres in the Baltic Sea, recorded by simultaneous attachment of GPS and time-depth recorder devices}},
  url          = {{https://lup.lub.lu.se/search/files/2465558/3469575.pdf}},
  doi          = {{10.3354/meps10125}},
  volume       = {{475}},
  year         = {{2013}},
}