Diet of the European Shag Gulosus aristotelis during the non-breeding season at a roost within a tidal channel

ABSTRACT

The diet of the European Shag Gulosus aristotelis was assessed at one of their most northerly roosts in the UK; Bluemull Sound, Shetland. One pellet and 40 faecal samples were collected during the non-breeding season. The most frequent prey was Velvet Swimming Crab Necora puber, while the highest number of otoliths were from Saithe Pollachius virens and estimated mean (±sd) fish length was 143.9 ± 66.9 mm (range 81.4–223.6 mm).

Acknowledgements

The study was conducted according to the guidelines of the Declaration of Helsinki, and approved by the Institutional Research Ethics Committee of University of the Highlands and Islands (OL - ETH SHE – 1230, approved on 21/02/2019). Thanks to Martha Devine and Glen Tyler for assistance with roost selection, Chevonne Angus, David Riley, and Saro Saravanan for assistance during laboratory work and Derek Jamieson for granting permission to use the site. Thanks to Ben Wilson and Maria Bogdanova for extensive comments on the PhD thesis chapter draft of this study and to Nina Dehnhard and editors for review of the manuscript.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

This work was funded by the Bryden Centre project, supported by the European Union’s INTERREG VA Programme, managed by the Special EU Programmes Body (SEUPB), and by the Seabird Group through their Research Grant. The views and opinions expressed in this paper do not necessarily reflect those of the European Commission or the Special EU Programmes Body (SEUPB).