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Research Project
MIGRATION PATTERNS AND WINTER DISTRIBUTION OF CORYS SHEARWATER CALONECTRIS DIOMEDEA: THE IMPORTANCE OF SEA SURFACE TEMPERATURE, BREEDING SUCCESS AND BODY CONDITION
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Wanderer of the deepest seas : Migratory behaviour and distribution of the highly pelagic Bulwer’s petrel
Publication . Dias, Maria P.; Alho, Maria; Granadeiro, José Pedro; Catry, Paulo
Small-sized nocturnal Procellariiformes are
abundant predators in oceanic areas worldwide and are
thought to play an important role in many marine food
webs as consumers of superabundant mesopelagic prey.
However, the spatial ecology and foraging behaviour of the
great majority of these species remain largely unknown.
We studied the non-breeding distribution and at-sea activity
of a migratory small-sized Procellariiform, the
Bulwer’s petrels Bulweria bulwerii, from the Selvagem
Island colony (subtropical Northeast Atlantic). We found
that soon after breeding Bulwer’s petrels migrate towards
deep (mean depth of 4416 m), open oceanic waters of the
tropical Atlantic, spending the winter far from shelf and
shelf-break areas, on regions avoided by most other avian
migrants in the Atlantic. When at sea, Bulwer’s petrels
spent more time flying during the night ([90 %, all year
round) than any other seabird studied so far. This nighttime
activity was not influenced by the lunar cycle, suggesting
that this highly specialised nocturnal seabird is probably
very well adapted to locating and capturing prey even in
very dark conditions. The results from the present study
may have important implications for the identification of
important bird areas in the marine realm, whose boundaries
have been delineated so far mostly on the basis of the
distribution and behaviour of better studied medium- to
large-sized seabirds.
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Funding agency
Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia
Funding programme
PIDDAC
Funding Award Number
SFRH/BPD/46827/2008