Quantity over quality? Prey-field characteristics influence the foraging decisions of little penguins (Eudyptula minor).

ABSTRACT: Quantifying prey characteristics is important for understanding the foraging behaviour of predators, which ultimately influence the structure and function of entire ecosystems. However, information available on prey is often at magnitudes which cannot be used to infer the fine-scale behaviour of predators, especially so in marine environments where direct observation of predator-prey interactions is rarely possible. In the present study, animal-borne video data loggers were used to determine the influence of prey type and patch density on the foraging behaviour of the little penguin (Eudyptula minor), an important predator in southeastern Australia. We found that numerical density positively influenced time spent foraging at a patch. However, when accounting for calorific value in d

SUBMITTER: Sutton GJ 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9198507 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature