SpringerLink
Log in

Long-term inter- and intraspecific dietary variation in sibling seabird species

  • Original paper
  • Published:
Marine Biology Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Northern Macronectes halli and southern giant petrels M. giganteus are opportunistic predators and the dominant avian scavengers in sub-Antarctic and Antarctic ecosystems. At South Georgia, there are globally important breeding populations of both species; however, no detailed diet study has been carried out at this site for > 35 years. Here, we analysed stomach contents of northern (n = 81) and southern giant petrel (n = 73) chicks at Bird Island, South Georgia (2014/15–2016/17). Specifically, we investigated: (1) interspecific and sexual dietary segregation; (2) diet changes within and among recent years; and (3) long-term diet changes since 1979/80–1980/81. Overall diet composition was similar between species, with penguins comprising approximately half the diet by mass. In both species (but more pronounced in southern giant petrels), prey delivered by female parents included higher proportions (by mass) of penguins and Antarctic krill Euphausia superba, and by male parents included more Antarctic fur seal Arctocephalus gazella carrion and seabirds other than penguins. Consumption of penguins increased, and of seal carrion declined, as chick-rearing progressed, mirroring the decreasing availability of the latter after the peak pup** period in December at South Georgia. Comparisons with data from 1979/80–1980/81 suggest some changes in giant petrel diets; however, these differences were no greater than the typical annual variation, and there were no clear links between diet and breeding allochrony or the differing population trends (more rapid increase in northern than southern giant petrels). The high diet diversity and ability of giant petrels to exploit both carrion and marine prey facilitates coexistence with other sympatric Procellariiformes and explains their favourable population status.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Subscribe and save

Springer+ Basic
EUR 32.99 /Month
  • Get 10 units per month
  • Download Article/Chapter or Ebook
  • 1 Unit = 1 Article or 1 Chapter
  • Cancel anytime
Subscribe now

Buy Now

Price includes VAT (France)

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4
Fig. 5

Similar content being viewed by others

Data availability

Supporting data are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.

References

  • Atkinson A, Whitehouse MJ, Priddle J, Cripps GC, Ward P, Brandon MA (2001) South Georgia, Antarctica: a productive, cold water, pelagic ecosystem. Mar Ecol Prog Ser 216:279–308

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Berrow SD, Croxall JP (1999) The diet of white-chinned petrels Procellaria aequinoctialis, Linnaeus 1758, in years of contrasting prey availability at South Georgia. Antarct Sci 11:283–292

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Berrow SD, Croxall JP, Grant SD (2000) Status of white-chinned petrels Procellaria aequinoctialis Linnaeus 1758, at Bird island, South Georgia. Antarct Sci 12:399–405

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Boltovskoy D (1999) South Atlantic Zooplankton. Backhuys Publishers, Leiden

    Google Scholar 

  • Bonner WN, Hunter S (1982) Predatory interactions between Antarctic fur seals, macaroni penguins and giant petrels. Br Antarct Surv Bull 56:75–79

    Google Scholar 

  • Bourne WRP, Warham J (1966) Geographical variation in the giant petrels of the genus Macronectes. Ardea 54:45–67

    Google Scholar 

  • Boyd IL (1989) Spatial and temporal distribution of Antarctic fur seals (Arctocephalus gazella) on the breeding grounds at Bird Island, South Georgia. Polar Biol 10:179–185

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Boyd IL (1993) Pup production and distribution of breeding Antarctic fur seals (Arctocephalus gazella) at South Georgia. Antarct Sci 5:17–24

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Brown RM, Techow NMSM, Wood AG, Phillips RA (2015) Hybridization and back-crossing in giant petrels (Macronectes giganteus and M. halli) at Bird Island, South Georgia, and a summary of hybridization in seabirds. PLoS ONE 10:e0121688

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Burnham KP, Anderson DR (2002) Model selection and inference: a practical information-theoretic approach. Springer, New York

    Google Scholar 

  • Cairns DK (1987) Seabirds as indicators of marine food supplies. Biol Oceanogr 5:261–271

    Google Scholar 

  • Church GE, Furness RW, Tyler G, Gilbert L, Votier SC (2018) Change in the North Sea ecosystem from the 1970s to the 2010s: great skua diets reflect changing forage fish, seabirds, and fisheries. ICES J Mar Sci 76:925–937

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Clarke MR (1986) A handbook for the identification of cephalopod beaks. Clarendon Press, Oxford

    Google Scholar 

  • Clarke A, Croxall JP, Poncet S, Martin AR, Burton R (2012) Important bird areas: South Georgia. Br Birds 105:118–144

    Google Scholar 

  • Conroy J (1972) Ecological aspects of the biology of giant petrel Macronectes giganteus (Gmelin) in the maritime Antarctic. Br Antarct Surv Sci Rep 75:1–74

    Google Scholar 

  • Copello S, Quintana F, Pérez F (2008) Diet of the southern giant petrel in Patagonia: fishery-related items and natural prey. Endanger Species Res 6:15–23

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Corá DH, Finger JVG, Krüger L (2020) Coprophagic behaviour of southern giant petrels (Macronectes giganteus) during breeding period. Polar Biol 43:2111–2116

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Croxall JP, Prince PA (1979) Antarctic seabird and seal monitoring studies. Polar Rec 19:573–595

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Croxall JP, Prince PA (1980) Food, feeding ecology and ecological segregation of seabirds at South Georgia. Biol J Linn Soc 14:103–131

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Croxall JP, Prince PA, Reid K (1997) Dietary segregation of krill-eating South Georgia seabirds. J Zool 242:531–556

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • De Bruyn PJN, Cooper J, Bester MN, Tosh CA (2007) The importance of land-based prey for sympatrically breeding giant petrels at sub-Antarctic Marion Island. Antarct Sci 19:25–30

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Descamps S, Gauthier-Clerc M, Le Bohec C, Gendner JP, Le Maho Y (2005) Impact of predation on king penguin Aptenodytes patagonicus in Crozet Archipelago. Polar Biol 28:303–310

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dilley BJ, Davies D, Connan M, Cooper J, de Villiers M, Swart L, Vandenabeele S, Ropert-Coudert Y, Ryan PG (2013) Giant petrels as predators of albatross chicks. Polar Biol 36:761–766

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Duffy DC, Jackson S (1986) Diet studies of seabirds: a review of methods. Colon Waterbirds 9:1–17

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dunn MJ, Jackson JA, Adlard S, Phillips RA (2016) Population size and trends of southern giant petrels (Macronectes giganteus) nesting at Signy Island, South Orkney Islands. Polar Biol 39:1309–1317

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Forero MG, González-Solís J, Hobson KA, Donázar JA, Bertellotti M, Blanco G, Bortolotti GR (2005) Stable isotopes reveal trophic segregation by sex and age in the southern giant petrel in two different food webs. Mar Ecol Prog Ser 296:107–113

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Forster IP, Phillips RA (2009) Influence of nest location, density and topography on breeding success in the black-browed albatross Thalassarche melanophris. Mar Ornithol 37:213–217

    Google Scholar 

  • Gianuca D, Votier SC, Pardo D, Wood AG, Sherley RB, Ireland L, Choquet R, Pradel R, Townley S, Forcada J, Tuck GN, Phillips RA (2019) Sex-specific effects of fisheries and climate on the demography of sexually dimorphic seabirds. J Anim Ecol 88:1366–1378

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • González-Solís J (2004) Sexual size dimorphism in northern giant petrels: ecological correlates and scaling. Oikos 105:247–254

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • González-Solís J, Croxall JP (2005) Differences in foraging behaviour and feeding ecology in giant petrels. In: Ruckstuhl KE, Neuhaus P (eds) Sexual segregation in vertebrates: ecology of the two sexes. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, pp 92–111

    Google Scholar 

  • González-Solís J, Croxall JP, Wood AG (2000a) Foraging partitioning between giant petrels Macronectes spp. and its relationship with breeding population changes at Bird Island. South Georgia Mar Ecol Prog Ser 204:279–288

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • González-Solís J, Croxall JP, Wood AG (2000b) Sexual dimorphism and sexual segregation in foraging strategies of northern giant petrels, Macronectes halli, during incubation. Oikos 90:390–398

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • González-Solís J, Croxall JP, Afanasyev V (2008) Offshore spatial segregation in giant petrels Macronectes spp.: differences between species, sexes and seasons. Aquat Conserv Mar Freshw Ecosyst 17:S22–S36

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Granroth-Wilding HMV, Phillips RA (2019) Segregation in space and time explains the coexistence of two sympatric sub-Antarctic petrels. Ibis 161:101–116

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Harper PC (1987) Feeding behaviour and other notes on 20 species of Procellariiformes at sea. Notornis 34:169–192

    Google Scholar 

  • Hill H (1990) A new method for the measurement of Antarctic krill Euphausia superba Dana from predator food samples. Polar Biol 10:317–320

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Horswill C, Matthiopoulos J, Green JA, Meredith MP, Forcada J, Peat H, Preston M, Trathan PN, Ratcliffe N (2014) Survival in macaroni penguins and the relative importance of different drivers: individual traits, predation pressure and environmental variability. J Anim Ecol 83:1057–1067

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Horswill C, Ratcliffe N, Green JA, Phillips RA, Trathan PN, Matthiopoulos J (2016) Unravelling the relative roles of top-down and bottom-up forces driving population change in an oceanic predator. Ecology 97:1919–1928

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Hunter S (1983) The food and feeding ecology of the giant petrels Macronectes halli and M. giganteus at South Georgia. J Zool 200:521–538

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hunter S (1984) Breeding biology and population dynamics of giant petrels Macronectes at South Georgia (Aves: Procellariiformes). J Zool 203:441–460

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hunter S (1985) The role of giant petrels in the Southern Ocean ecosystem. In: Siegfried RW, Condy PR, Laws MR (eds) Antarctic nutrient cycles and food webs. Springer, Berlin, pp 534–542

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Hunter S (1987) Species and sexual isolating mechanisms in sibling species of giant petrels Macronectes. Polar Biol 7:295–301

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hunter S, Brooke MDL (1992) The diet of giant petrels Macronectes spp. at Marion Island. Southern Indian Ocean Colon Waterbirds 15:56–65

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Johnstone G (1977) Comparative feeding ecology of the giant petrels Macronectes giganteus (Gmelin) and M. halli (Mathews). In: Llano G (ed) Adaptations within Antarctic ecosystems. Smithsonian Institute, Washington, pp 647–688

    Google Scholar 

  • Jones CW, Risi MM, Cooper J (2019) An incubating northern giant petrel actively feeds on a Salvin’s prion. Antarct Sci 31:317–318

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kirkwood J (1984) A guide to the Decapoda of the Southern Ocean. ANARE Res Notes 11:1–47

    Google Scholar 

  • Martin AR, Poncet S, Barbraud C, Foster E, Fretwell P, Rothery P (2009) The white-chinned petrel (Procellaria aequinoctialis) on South Georgia: population size, distribution and global significance. Polar Biol 32:655–661

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • McInnes JC, Raymond B, Phillips RA, Jarman SN, Lea MA, Alderman R (2016) A review of methods used to analyse albatross diets—assessing priorities across their range. ICES J Mar Sci 73:2125–2137

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mills WF, Xavier JC, Bearhop S, Cherel Y, Votier SC, Waluda CM, Phillips RA (2020) Long-term trends in albatross diets in relation to prey availability and breeding success. Mar Biol 167:29

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Moreno R, Stowasser G, McGill RAR, Bearhop S, Phillips RA (2016) Assessing the structure and temporal dynamics of seabird communities: the challenge of capturing marine ecosystem complexity. J Anim Ecol 85:199–212

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Payne M (1977) Growth of a fur seal population. Philos Trans R Soc London B 279:67–79

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Phillips RA (2006) Efficacy and effects of diet sampling of albatross chicks. Emu 106:305–308

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Phillips RA, Petersen MK, Lilliendahl K, Solmundsson J, Hamer KC, Camphuysen CJ, Zonfrillo B (1999) Diet of the northern fulmar Fulmarus glacialis: reliance on commercial fisheries? Mar Biol 135:159–170

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Phillips RA, Phalan B, Forster IP (2004) Diet and long-term changes in population size and productivity of brown skuas Catharacta antarctica lonnbergi at Bird Island, South Georgia. Polar Biol 27:555–561

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Phillips RA, Silk JRD, Croxall JP (2005) Foraging and provisioning strategies of the light-mantled sooty albatross at South Georgia: competition and co-existence with sympatric pelagic predators. Mar Ecol Prog Ser 285:259–270

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Phillips RA, McGill RAR, Dawson DA, Bearhop S (2011) Sexual segregation in distribution, diet and trophic level of seabirds: insights from stable isotope analysis. Mar Biol 158:2199–2208

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Poncet S, Wolfaardt AC, Black A, Browning S, Lawton K, Lee J, Passfield K, Strange G, Phillips RA (2017) Recent trends in numbers of wandering (Diomedea exulans), black-browed (Thalassarche melanophris) and grey-headed (T. chrysostoma) albatrosses breeding at South Georgia. Polar Biol 40:1347–1358

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Poncet S, Wolfaardt AC, Barbraud C, Reyes-Arriagada R, Black A, Powell RB, Phillips RA (2020) The distribution, abundance, status and global importance of giant petrels (Macronectes giganteus and M. halli) breeding at South Georgia. Polar Biol 43:17–34

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Prince PA, Morgan RA (1987) Diet and feeding ecology of Procellariiformes. In: Croxall JP (ed) Seabirds: feeding ecology and role in marine ecosystems. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, pp 135–171

    Google Scholar 

  • R Core Team (2019) R: a language and environment for statistical computing. Vienna, Austria. https://www.R-project.org/

  • Raya Rey A, Polito M, Archuby D, Coria N (2012) Stable isotopes identify age-and sex-specific dietary partitioning and foraging habitat segregation in southern giant petrels breeding in Antarctica and southern Patagonia. Mar Biol 159:1317–1326

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Reisinger RR, Carpenter-Kling T, Connan M, Cherel Y, Pistorius PA (2020) Foraging behaviour and habitat-use drives niche segregation in sibling seabird species. R Soc Open Sci 7:200649

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Ryan PG, Sommer E, Breytenbach E (2008) Giant petrels Macronectes hunting northern rockhopper penguins Eudyptes moseleyi at sea. Ardea 96:129–134

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Techow N, O’Ryan C, Phillips R, Gales R, Marin M, Patterson-Fraser D, Quintana F, Ritz M, Thompson D, Wanless R, Weimerskirch H, Ryan P (2010) Speciation and phylogeography of giant petrels Macronectes. Mol Phylogenet Evol 54:472–487

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Thomas G (1982) The food and feeding ecology of the light-mantled sooty albatross at South Georgia. Emu 82:92–100

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Towers J, Gasco N (2020) Giant petrels (Macronectes spp.) prey on depredating sperm whales (Physeter macrocephalus). Polar Biol 43:919–924

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Votier SC, Bearhop S, MacCormick A, Ratcliffe N, Furness RW (2003) Assessing the diet of great skuas, Catharacta skua, using five different techniques. Polar Biol 26:20–26

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Votier SC, Furness RW, Bearhop S, Crane JE, Caldow RWG, Catry P, Ensor K, Hamer KC, Hudson AV, Kalmbach E, Klomp NI, Pfeiffer S, Phillips RA, Prieto I, Thompson DR (2004) Changes in fisheries discard rates and seabird communities. Nature 427:727–730

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Waluda CM, Hill SL, Peat HJ, Trathan PN (2012) Diet variability and reproductive performance of macaroni penguins Eudyptes chrysolophus at Bird Island, South Georgia. Mar Ecol Prog Ser 466:261–274

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Williams TD, Croxall JP (1991) Annual variation in breeding biology of macaroni penguins, Eudyptes chrysolophus, at Bird Island, South Georgia. J Zool 223:189–202

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Xavier JC, Cherel Y (2009) Cephalopod beak guide for the Southern Ocean. British Antarctic Survey, Cambridge

    Google Scholar 

  • Xavier JC, Croxall JP, Trathan PN, Rodhouse PG (2003) Inter-annual variation in the cephalopod component of the diet of the wandering albatross, Diomedea exulans, breeding at Bird Island, South Georgia. Mar Biol 142:611–622

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

The authors are grateful to Alastair Wilson, Jerry Gilham, Tegan Newman and the other fieldworkers at Bird Island who helped with sampling of giant petrel diets, and to Dr José Xavier for identification of cephalopod beaks. Constructive comments from four anonymous reviewers substantially improved this work. W.F.M was supported by a NERC GW4+ Doctoral Training Partnership studentship from the Natural Environment Research Council (NE/L002434/1). This work represents a contribution to the Ecosystems component of the British Antarctic Survey Polar Science for Planet Earth Programme, funded by the Natural Environment Research Council.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. British Antarctic Survey, Natural Environment Research Council, Cambridge, CB3 0ET, UK

    William F. Mills, Tim I. Morley & Richard A. Phillips

  2. Centre for Ecology and Conservation, University of Exeter, Cornwall, TR10 9EZ, UK

    William F. Mills

  3. Lyell Centre, Heriot-Watt University, Edinburgh, UK

    Stephen C. Votier

Authors
  1. William F. Mills
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Tim I. Morley
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Stephen C. Votier
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Richard A. Phillips
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Contributions

WFM and RAP contributed to the concept and design of the study. TIM collected samples in the field. WFM and TIM analysed the data. WFM wrote the initial manuscript draft. All authors contributed to the writing of the manuscript and gave final approval for publication.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to William F. Mills.

Ethics declarations

Conflict of interest

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Ethical approval

Diet sampling was approved by the British Antarctic Survey Ethics Committee and carried out with permission of the Government of South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands.

Additional information

Responsible Editor: V. Paiva.

Reviewers: undisclosed experts.

Publisher's Note

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Supplementary Information

Below is the link to the electronic supplementary material.

Supplementary file1 (PDF 350 KB)

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Mills, W.F., Morley, T.I., Votier, S.C. et al. Long-term inter- and intraspecific dietary variation in sibling seabird species. Mar Biol 168, 31 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00227-021-03839-6

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00227-021-03839-6

Search

Navigation