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Diet of the Heard Island cormorant Phalacrocorax atriceps nivalis

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  14 May 2004

K. Green
Affiliation:
Antarctic Division, Channel Highway, Kingston, Tasmania 7050, Australia
R. Williams
Affiliation:
Antarctic Division, Channel Highway, Kingston, Tasmania 7050, Australia
E.J. Woehler
Affiliation:
Antarctic Division, Channel Highway, Kingston, Tasmania 7050, Australia
H.R. Burton
Affiliation:
Antarctic Division, Channel Highway, Kingston, Tasmania 7050, Australia
N.J. Gales
Affiliation:
Antarctic Division, Channel Highway, Kingston, Tasmania 7050, Australia
R.T. Jones
Affiliation:
Antarctic Division, Channel Highway, Kingston, Tasmania 7050, Australia

Abstract

The diet of Heard Island cormorants was investigated by examination of casts over three summer seasons. The diet was composed mainly of benthic organisms, with polychaetes being the most common prey for the greater part of the population. Fish were taken commonly only by the small breeding population at the western end of the island, whereas elsewhere only 22% of casts contained any fish remains at all. The diet is therefore different from that reported for Phalacrocorax atriceps at other localities.

Type
Papers—Life Sciences and Oceanography
Copyright
© Antarctic Science Ltd 1990

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