Winter dispersal of Magellanic penguins at Martillo Island: Sexual differences in movement patterns and trophic ecology

DODINO SAMANTA; LUCIANA RICCIALDELLI; MICHAEL POLITO; PÜTZ KLEMENS; RAYA REY ANDREA

Dunedin

Congreso; 10th International Penguin Conference; 2019

University of Otago

The dispersal of penguins during the non-breeding period is a critical period that can affect breeding success and survival in the following season. Thus, knowledge of penguin foraging ecology during this energy-intensive period is crucial to understand their responses to ecosystem variability. We recorded winter dispersal of Magellanic penguins Spheniscus magellanicus from Martillo Island (Beagle Channel, Argentina) using LAT2900 geolocators in 2017. We collected whole blood samples when the penguins first arrived at the colony in spring to study their pre-breeding foraging niche using stable carbon (δ13C) and nitrogen (δ15N) isotope analysis. In total, 26 adults were equipped after their annual molt, of which 24 were re-captured. However, only 20 were still equipped with devices and only 9 datasets could be recovered successfully. We found that penguins dispersed north along the Patagonian coast up to just south of Buenos Aires, Argentina (