Foraging plasticity in seabirds: A non-invasive study of the diet of greater crested terns breeding in the Benguela region.

ABSTRACT: Marine predators, such as seabirds, are useful indicators of marine ecosystem functioning. In particular, seabird diet may reflect variability in food-web composition due to natural or human-induced environmental change. Diet monitoring programmes, which sample diet non-invasively, are valuable aids to conservation and management decision-making. We investigated the diet of an increasing population of greater crested terns Thalasseus bergii in the Western Cape, South Africa, during three successive breeding seasons (2013 to 2015), when populations of other seabirds feeding on small pelagic schooling fish in the region were decreasing. Breeding greater crested terns carry prey in their bills, so we used an intensive photo-sampling method to record their diet with little disturbance. We iden

SUBMITTER: Gaglio D 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5791960 | biostudies-literature | 2018

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature