Foraging strategies of Magellanic penguins from a central Patagonian colony during the incubation period

GABRIELA S. BLANCO; HILTON ENTRINGER; ARIEL SERRA; JUAN P. PISONI

Congreso; 11th International Penguin Congress; 2023

Incubating Magellanic penguins (Spheniscus magellanicus, MP) must balance nestattendance with foraging performance. Few studies focused on MP’s behavior duringincubation probably due to logistical and technological constrains. We studied foragingbehavior of 17 MP (11 males and 6 females) during incubation (2019 and 2022 breedingseasons) using GPSs in Cabo dos Bahías (44°54′50′′S; 65°32′37′′W), Argentina.Additionally, we determined trip duration of 25 and 21 breeding pairs in 2019 and 2022respectively by recording nests attendance of micro-chipped penguins. Two foragingstrategies were determined: 14% breeding pairs alternated trips of 3-5 days and 86%alternated only two trips. Although 65% of males made an additional trip (9.3 ± 3.3h;total distance: 25.1 ± 9.5km) before the second egg was laid. Males foraged first during22.3 ± 4 days, followed by females that traveled for 14.6 ± 6.0 days; showingdifferences in trip duration between sexes (F=21.9; p