Feeding areas of Cayenne, Royal and South American Terns during breeding at northern Patagonia, Argentina.

GATTO, ALEJANDRO

San Diego, California, Estados Unidos

Conferencia; ESRI International User’s Conference; 2009

ESRI

<!-- /* Style Definitions */ p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal {mso-style-parent:""; margin:0cm; margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:12.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-ansi-language:RU; mso-fareast-language:RU;} @page Section1 {size:612.0pt 792.0pt; margin:70.85pt 3.0cm 70.85pt 3.0cm; mso-header-margin:36.0pt; mso-footer-margin:36.0pt; mso-paper-source:0;} div.Section1 {page:Section1;} --> Cayenne (Thalasseus sandvicensis eurygnathus), Royal (Thalasseus maximus) and South American Terns (Sterna hirundinacea) breed sympatrically in Patagonia, Argentina. Very little is known on the breeding foraging areas and feeding patterns of these species and thus studies are needed to understand their role in coastal ecosystems and develop adequate management strategies. We present information on the use of foraging areas by these species at a mixed species colony in the Punta León Protected Area (43º 04’ S, 64º 29’ W), and in the Punta Loma Protected Area (42° 49’ S, 64° 53’ W) Chubut, Argentina. Radio-transmitters were deployed on eight nesting adults of each species, which were tracked during the late incubation. Feeding areas were identified during foraging trips by means of radio-telemetry from the coast, using two fixed tracking stations for each colony, consisting each of two attached 9-element Yagi antennae. Terns foraged often between the colony and 35 km away. However, lack of signal reception in some of these trips, indicate that foraging can also take place in waters further away. In general, individual birds were consistent in the use of one particular area. Implications for foraging area partitioning between terns and the coastal management and conservation guidelines will be discussed.