Diet of eiders and body condition change from the late 1980s to the mid 2010s

Food and foraging decisions are fundamental drivers of the population dynamics of bird species. Eider Somateria mollissima was sampled in Danish marine waters during the non-breeding season in 1986–1990 and in 2010–2017 in order to analyze changes in diet and body condition between the two periods....

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Laursen, K. (Author), Møller, A.P (Author)
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Elsevier B.V. 2022
Subjects:
Online Access:View Fulltext in Publisher
LEADER 01978nam a2200229Ia 4500
001 10.1016-j.seares.2022.102244
008 220718s2022 CNT 000 0 und d
020 |a 13851101 (ISSN) 
245 1 0 |a Diet of eiders and body condition change from the late 1980s to the mid 2010s 
260 0 |b Elsevier B.V.  |c 2022 
856 |z View Fulltext in Publisher  |u https://doi.org/10.1016/j.seares.2022.102244 
520 3 |a Food and foraging decisions are fundamental drivers of the population dynamics of bird species. Eider Somateria mollissima was sampled in Danish marine waters during the non-breeding season in 1986–1990 and in 2010–2017 in order to analyze changes in diet and body condition between the two periods. The food items found were among those commonly consumed by eiders. Between the late 1980s and the mid 2010s there was a decrease in the number of blue mussels Mytilus edulis, cockles Cerastoderma edule and common whelks Buccinum undatum in the diet, and an increase in the number of razor clam Ensis directus. Blue mussel was the most abundant prey. When present, this prey item occurred almost exclusively in the eiders' digestive tract and was negatively correlated with the numbers of other prey items. Eiders with blue mussels, other bivalves and shore crabs in the gizzard had better body condition than eiders with other food items. Blue mussel was a preferred food item and is important for the build-up of body condition. Body condition increased between the late 1980s and the mid 2010s. We assume that this increase in body condition has occurred in parallel with a decrease in the size of the population of the Baltic/Wadden Sea flyway. © 2022 The Authors 
650 0 4 |a Blue mussels 
650 0 4 |a Eider 
650 0 4 |a Food item 
650 0 4 |a Mytilus edulis 
650 0 4 |a Nutrients 
650 0 4 |a Somateria mollissima 
650 0 4 |a Water temperature 
700 1 |a Laursen, K.  |e author 
700 1 |a Møller, A.P.  |e author 
773 |t Journal of Sea Research