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Nutritional Content Of Rhinoceros Auklet (Cerorhinca Monocerata) Bill Loads, Dustin Taylor, Ron Heintz
Nutritional Content Of Rhinoceros Auklet (Cerorhinca Monocerata) Bill Loads, Dustin Taylor, Ron Heintz
STAR Program Research Presentations
Nutritional Content of Rhinoceros Auklet Bill Loads
Dustin E Taylor
Abstract
An adult Rhinoceros Auklet (Cerorhinca monocerata) can only catch and carry a limited amount of prey to their nestlings after a foraging trip. The auklets therefore must maximize their efficiency by bringing back the most proportionally nutritious prey items to their nestlings. The prey carried back to the nesting sites (known as a ‘bill load’) can contain whole fish, as well as parts, most commonly fish heads. This study is aimed to determine whether returning with just heads to the nestlings was proportionally more nutritious than bringing …