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The diet of Pacific gulls (Larus pacificus) breeding at Seal Island in northern Bass Strait
journal contribution
posted on 2014-01-01, 00:00 authored by T N Leitch, P Dann, John ArnouldJohn ArnouldThe endemic Pacific gull (Larus pacificus) is Australia's largest larid, and though little is currently known of its foraging ecology, its size and wide distribution suggest that it may play an important role within the marine environment. In the present study, regurgitate pellets collected from Seal Island in northern Bass Strait were used to compare intra- and interannual trends in diet composition. The main taxa identified in pellets were the common diving-petrel (Pelecanoides urinatrix), leatherjacket species (Family Monacanthidae), short-tailed shearwater (Puffinus tenuirostris) and mirror bush (Coprosma repens). Analysis of similarity (ANOSIM) identified no significant differences in numerical abundance of the dominant prey species between years, suggesting that the prey base in this region is temporally consistent or that the gulls consume low enough numbers to be unaffected by fluctuation in prey populations. Diving-petrels were consumed in consistently high numbers, suggesting the gulls may be an important predator of this species, or that the gulls are particularly skilled at foraging for them. © CSIRO 2014.
History
Journal
Australian Journal of ZoologyVolume
62Issue
3Pagination
216 - 222Publisher
CSIROLocation
London, United KingdomPublisher DOI
ISSN
0004-959XeISSN
1446-5698Language
engPublication classification
C Journal article; C1 Refereed article in a scholarly journalCopyright notice
2014, CSIRO PublishingUsage metrics
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