Lumbering the gauntlet: Cape Gannet fledglings killed by African Penguins

MCINNES ALISTAIR M.; NICOLÁS SUÁREZ; RISHWOTH GAVIN; GREEN DAVID; PISTORIUS PIERRE; PICHEGRU LORIEN

OSTRICH

NATL INQUIRY SERVICES CENTRE PTY LTD

Lugar: Johannesburg ; Año: 2014 vol. 85 p. 193 - 196

0030-6525

This account presents the first known observations of Cape Gannet Morus capensis fledgling mortalities as a result of  aggressive  nest  defence  behaviour  by  African  Penguins  Spheniscus  demersus.  Observations  were  conducted in  2013  on  Bird  Island,  Algoa  Bay,  South  Africa  ?  the  world?s  largest  breeding  colony  of  Cape  Gannets.  Twentyeight attacks were witnessed between 21 March and 18 May 2013 of which 16 resulted in mortality. The absence of previous observations of this phenomenon may be due to an unusually high proportion of African Penguin chicks being present relatively early on in the breeding season, associated with a potential for increased nest defence at this stage, and a larger number of gannet fledglings that year compared to previous years over the same period.