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Diet of the Fiordland Crested Penguin during the Post-guard Phase of Chick Growth

  • Publication Type

    Journal

  • Publication Year

    1989

  • Author(s)

    Y.M. van Heezik

  • Journal Name

    Notornis

  • Volume, Issue

    36, 2

  • Pagination

    151-156

  • Article Type

    Paper

Keywords

Fiordland crested penguin; Eudyptes pachyhynchus; diet; chick growth


Diet of the Fiordland Crested Penguin during the Post-guard Phase of Chick Growth

Notornis, 36 (2), 151-156

Y.M. van Heezik (1989)

Article Type: Paper

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The stomach contents of 50 adult Fiordland Crested Penguins (Eudyptes pachyrhynchus) were collected during the post-guard phase of chick growth. Twenty-two food species were identified from 19 families.  The composition of the diet, expressed as percentages of calculated weight, was 85% cephalopods, 1304 crustaceans and 2% fish. The sexes did not differ in their diets. The cephalopods and fish were juvenile and larval forms, indicating that the penguins were feeding on pelagic macro-zooplankton and micro-nekton. The main cephalopod taken was Nototodarus sp., and so the penguins were foraging mainly over the continental shelf, which extends no more than 10-15 km from the shore.