A recently stablished Kelp Gull colony in a freshwater environment supported by an inland refuse dump in Patagonia.

FRIXIONE M.; CASAUX R.,; VILLANUEVA C.; ALARCÓN P.

EMU

CSIRO PUBLISHING

Lugar: Collingwood; Año: 2012 vol. 112 p. 174 - 178

0158-4197

Abstract. Populations of several species of gull are increasing worldwide as a result of a plentiful supply of anthropogenicfood in urbanised environments. In light of this, we decided to examine the importance of anthropogenic food in the diet of arecently established colony of Kelp Gulls (Larus dominicanus).Wecollected 241 regurgitated pellets of the Kelp Gull duringthe 2008–09 breeding season at the colony in the De La Guardia Islands, Nahuel Huapi Lake, Argentina. In terms ofpercentage frequency of occurrence in pellets, human refuse (65.6%) was the most frequently recorded item, followed byinsects (42.3%; mostly coleopterans) and fish (21.2%). In terms of the percentage number of total prey items, insects (62.1%)and human refuse (21.3%) were the most abundant items. The consumption of insects decreased and that of human refuseincreased during chick-rearing. Human refuse was recorded in samples from most nests (97.3%). We compare our resultswith those obtained for other localities and discuss the consequences of the management of urban refuse. Our results suggestthat the Kelp Gull breeding colony in the De La Guardia Islands is sustained by the availability of food from the rubbish tip ofVilla la Angostura. This is the first dietary study of the Kelp Gull in a continental freshwater ecosystem and one more exampleof a gull colony supported by anthropogenic sources of food.