Summer diet of seabirds from the Frans Josef Land archipelago, Russian Arctic

Abstract

Food samples from 102 seabirds from eight species (fulmar Fulmarus glacialis, common eider Somateria mollissima, glaucous gull Larus hyperboreus, kittiwake Rissa tridaayla, arctic tern Sterna paradisaea, Briinnich's guillemot Uria lorn via, black guillemot Cepphus grylle, little auk Alle alle) were collected during the period August 1991–1993 in the southern part of the Frans Josef Land archipelago, 80°N, 53°E. The pelagic amphipod Parathemisto libellula and polar cod Boreogadus saida were the two most commonly taken food items (frequency of occurrence over 50% and weight contribution more than 70%). Ice-associated crustaceans contributed to some 10% of the weight in the samples. In general, the food composition was very similar to that reported from Svalbard. However, birds from Frans Josef Land fed on a lower diversity of prey compared to Svalbard populations.