It's quantity over quality for little penguins at dinner time

Embargoed until: Publicly released: 2022-06-15 09:01

Australia; VIC

Photo by Kunal Kalra on Unsplash

Little penguins in southeastern Australia will spend more time foraging when prey are abundant but low in quality, according to Aussie researchers who analysed video data collected of hunting penguins. The researchers suggest that this may be due to the penguins seeking to maximise their foraging performance by concentrating their efforts on the larger quantities of prey regardless of their quality.

Media release

From: The Royal Society

Quantity over quality? Prey-field characteristics influence the foraging decisions of little penguins (Eudyptula minor)

Royal Society Open Science

Video cameras were used to determine foraging effort of penguins when feeding on fish. We found that individuals will choose quantity over quality when under spatio-temporal foraging constraints during the breeding season. Prey type matters to little penguins and prey-specific factors such as prey mobility may influence the foraging effort of individuals.

Journal/
conference: Royal Society Open Science

Research:Paper

Organisation/s: Deakin University

Funder: This study was supported by Deakin University.

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