Linking Foraging Behaviour and Habitat Preferences During Moult Across Multiple Populations of Red-Throated Diver.

ABSTRACT: Understanding the habitat use of individuals can facilitate methods to measure the degree to which populations will be affected by potential stressors. Such insights can be hard to garner for marine species that are inaccessible during phases of their annual cycles. Here, we quantify the link between foraging habitat and behaviour in an aquatic bird of high conservation concern, the red-throated diver (Gavia stellata) across three breeding populations (Finland, Iceland and Scotland) during their understudied moult period. Specifically, we quantify the relationship between feather isotope values (δ¹³C and δ¹⁵N) and diving behaviour, within and between populations, examining the use of intra-depth zone (IDZ) dives as a proxy for benthic foraging. We found a stron

SUBMITTER: Duckworth J 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11664317 | biostudies-literature | 2024 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature