Despite the importance of understanding marine bird response to prey fish, few studies have examined this relationship during winter. Over a 5‐year period, we conducted synoptic marine bird and hydroacoustic forage fish surveys during early (November) and late (March) winter to characterize the factors influencing marine bird and forage fish dynamics at two spatial scales (fish school and bay) within subarctic bays of coastal Alaska, USA. Over 40% of observed marine birds were associated with a fish school (within 150 m of a fish school), although only 20% of fish schools were associated with birds. Seasonally, we recorded significantly more schools during early winter. The marine bird community also shifted from being comprised primarily of marbled murrelets (Brachyramphus marmoratus) and large gulls (Larus spp.) in early winter to common murres (Uria aalge) in late winter. At the school level, marine birds were more likely to be associated with shallow fish schools within 500 m of shore and in smaller prey patches. At the bay level, gull abundance was positively associated with the total number of fish schools recorded, while diving birds were more abundant when fish schools were higher in the water column, in shallower bottom depths, and in areas with more eel grass habitat. Our results indicate the importance of temporal, habitat, and fish school variables as drivers of marine bird presence and abundance, underscoring the complexity of predator–prey dynamics in the marine environment during winter.

中文翻译：

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亚北极海湾冬季鸟类对觅食鱼的反应

尽管了解海洋鸟类对猎物反应的重要性，但很少有研究在冬季检查这种关系。在5年的时间里，我们在冬季初（11月）和冬季后期（3月）进行了天气性海鸟和水声饲草鱼调查，以描述影响海鸟和饲草鱼动态的两个空间尺度（鱼群和海湾）的因素。美国阿拉斯加沿海的亚弧湾。超过40％的观察到的海鸟与鱼群有关（在150 m的鱼群内），尽管只有20％的鱼群与鸟类有关。从季节性上看，我们在初冬期间录得的学校明显增多。海洋鸟类群落也从主要由大理石murrelets（Brachyramphus marmoratus）和大型海鸥（Larus spp。）在冬季初到普通的泥沼（Uria aalge ）在冬季晚些时候。在学校一级，海鸟更可能与海岸500 m内和较小猎物区中的浅鱼学校有关。在海湾地区，海鸥的丰度与记录的鱼类种群总数呈正相关，而当鱼类种群在水柱中，底部深度较浅且鳗鱼草栖息地较多的地区时，潜水鸟类则更为丰富。我们的结果表明，时间，栖息地和鱼类群变量对海洋鸟类的存在和丰度的驱动力很重要，这突显了冬季海洋环境中捕食者-猎物动力学的复杂性。