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17 February 2022 At-Sea Habitat Use of Rhinoceros Auklets Breeding in the Shelf Region of Eastern Hokkaido
Takahiro Sato, Yuki Yabuhara, Jumpei Okado, Yutaka Watanuki, Akihiro Yamauchi, Yoichi Kawaguchi
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Abstract

At-sea habitat use of breeding seabirds is strongly influenced by marine environmental features that vary over space and time. The use of bio-loggers allows researchers to track fine-scale movements of seabirds and provides opportunities to identify the primary factors affecting their area use for foraging. Using GPS loggers, we tracked chick-rearing rhinoceros auklets (Cerorhinca monocerata), which are wing-propelled divers, at Daikoku Island, eastern Hokkaido, Japan. The central phase for foraging activity on birds' trips was determined using a multiple change points model. To examine environmental factors explaining the distribution of the foraging phase, a generalized additive model was used where sea surface temperature, chlorophyll a concentration, bathymetry, and distance from the colony were explanatory variables. To obtain information supporting the behavioral tracking, prey items in the bill-loads of adult auklets were collected. We found that auklets foraged over the continental shelf shallower than the 200-m isobath and that distance from the colony was related to the area use. Adult auklets predominately brought back age-0 chum salmon (Oncorhynchus keta), which was abundant in coastal waters along southeast Hokkaido during the study period. Our findings indicate that rhinoceros auklets rearing chicks, hence visiting nests frequently, on Daikoku Island can find suitable feeding grounds nearby.

© 2022 Zoological Society of Japan
Takahiro Sato, Yuki Yabuhara, Jumpei Okado, Yutaka Watanuki, Akihiro Yamauchi, and Yoichi Kawaguchi "At-Sea Habitat Use of Rhinoceros Auklets Breeding in the Shelf Region of Eastern Hokkaido," Zoological Science 39(3), 261-269, (17 February 2022). https://doi.org/10.2108/zs210014
Received: 6 March 2021; Accepted: 16 December 2021; Published: 17 February 2022
KEYWORDS
Cerorhinca monocerata
conservation
GPS logger
marine habitat
movement
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