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Giant petrels as predators of albatross chicks

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Abstract

Giant petrels Macronectes spp. are not thought to be important predators of albatross chicks, although they are known to kill pre-fledging Thalassarche and Phoebetria albatrosses. We report the first records of predation of healthy great albatross Diomedea spp. chicks, killing wandering albatrosses D. exulans at night on sub-Antarctic Marion Island. Breeding success of this species has decreased markedly in the area where attacks occurred, suggesting that giant petrel predation events are a recent phenomenon. Mouse attacks on wandering albatross chicks may have contributed to the development of this hunting technique. We also report the first observations of giant petrel predation on pre-fledging grey-headed albatross T. chrysostoma chicks as well as additional records of sooty albatross P. fusca chicks being targeted. Only adult northern giant petrels M. halli have been confirmed to kill albatross chicks on Marion Island. Given the threatened status of wandering albatrosses, and the importance of Marion Island for this species, monitoring of their breeding success is necessary to assess whether the predation of chicks by giant petrels spreads around the island.

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Acknowledgments

We thank Bruce Dyer and Rob Crawford for the use of nest cameras. Our study was supported by the National Research Foundation and the South African National Antarctic Programme. MC acknowledges funding from the University of Cape Town’s Marine Research Institute. The Department of Environmental Affairs provided logistical support.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Percy FitzPatrick Institute of Africa Ornithology, DST/NRF Centre of Excellence, University of Cape Town, Rondebosch, 7701, South Africa

    Ben J. Dilley, Delia Davies, Maëlle Connan & Peter G. Ryan

  2. Department of Zoology and Entomology, Rhodes University, PO Box 94, Grahamstown, 6140, South Africa

    Maëlle Connan

  3. Department of Botany and Zoology, DST/NRF Centre of Excellence for Invasion Biology, Stellenbosch University, P. Bag X1, Matieland, 7602, South Africa

    John Cooper

  4. Animal Demography Unit, Department of Zoology, University of Cape Town, Rondebosch, 7701, South Africa

    Marienne de Villiers

  5. Department of Environment Affairs, P. Bag X2, Roggebaai, 8012, South Africa

    Lieze Swart

  6. Swansea Moving Animal Research Team, Biological Sciences Department, Swansea University, Wales, SA2 8PP, UK

    Sylvie Vandenabeele

  7. Université de Strasbourg, IPHC, 23 rue Becquerel, 67087, Strasbourg, France

    Yan Ropert-Coudert

  8. CNRS, UMR7178, 67037, Strasbourg, France

    Yan Ropert-Coudert

Authors
  1. Ben J. Dilley
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  2. Delia Davies
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  3. Maëlle Connan
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  4. John Cooper
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  5. Marienne de Villiers
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  6. Lieze Swart
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  7. Sylvie Vandenabeele
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  8. Yan Ropert-Coudert
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  9. Peter G. Ryan
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Peter G. Ryan.

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Dilley, B.J., Davies, D., Connan, M. et al. Giant petrels as predators of albatross chicks. Polar Biol 36, 761–766 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00300-013-1300-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00300-013-1300-1

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