Kelp Gulls Larus dominicanus are one of the most abundant gulls in the Southern Hemisphere and can play an important role in their ecosystem. Understanding their foraging ecology is therefore important, especially in the context of anthropogenic changes of the environment. Over 35,000 Kelp Gulls breed in South Africa but little is known about their habitat use. It has been hypothesised that foraging mainly occurs in natural habitats while provisioning chicks to ensure high quality food, but knowledge on their foraging ecology during the incubation period remains poor. We tracked incubating Kelp Gulls from six colonies distributed along the coast of South Africa, varying in their distance to urban areas and landfills, and compared foraging trip patterns and habitat selection between colonies. Gulls from west coast colonies, generally located further from landfills than the other studied colonies, travelled farther from their breeding sites (11.7 ± 9.9–17.8 ± 21.7 km, n = 3 colonies) than birds from Cape Town and south and east coast colonies (1.7 ± 0.8–3.1 ± 3.7 km, n = 3) with birds travelling farthest when foraging at sea. Gulls from all colonies spent more time foraging in marine, coastal, and natural terrestrial environments than scavenging in strongly modified habitats while incubating. Our results suggest that Kelp Gulls in South Africa are able to exploit various resources from different foraging habitats, regardless of colony location and seem to rely less on anthropogenic habitats than expected.

中文翻译：

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南非繁殖海带鸥的觅食运动。

海带鸥 Larus dominicanus 是南半球最丰富的海鸥之一，可以在其生态系统中发挥重要作用。因此，了解它们的觅食生态非常重要，尤其是在人为环境变化的背景下。超过 35,000 只海带海鸥在南非繁殖，但对其栖息地的用途知之甚少。据推测，觅食主要发生在自然栖息地，同时提供雏鸡以确保高质量的食物，但对孵化期觅食生态的了解仍然很少。我们跟踪了分布在南非海岸的六个殖民地的孵化海带鸥，它们与城市地区和垃圾填埋场的距离各不相同，并比较了殖民地之间的觅食旅行模式和栖息地选择。来自西海岸殖民地的海鸥，通常比其他研究的殖民地距离垃圾填埋场更远，距离它们的繁殖地更远（11.7 ± 9.9-17.8 ± 21.7 公里，n = 3 个殖民地）比来自开普敦和南海岸和东海岸殖民地的鸟类（1.7 ± 0.8-3.1 ± 3.7 公里，n = 3) 鸟类在海上觅食时飞得最远。来自所有殖民地的海鸥花费更多的时间在海洋、沿海和自然陆地环境中觅食，而不是在孵化时在经过强烈改造的栖息地中觅食。我们的研究结果表明，南非的海带海鸥能够利用来自不同觅食栖息地的各种资源，无论其栖息地位于何处，而且似乎对人为栖息地的依赖程度低于预期。n = 3 个殖民地）比来自开普敦和南部和东海岸殖民地的鸟类（1.7 ± 0.8-3.1 ± 3.7 公里，n = 3）与鸟类在海上觅食时飞行最远。来自所有殖民地的海鸥花费更多的时间在海洋、沿海和自然陆地环境中觅食，而不是在孵化时在经过强烈改造的栖息地中觅食。我们的研究结果表明，南非的海带海鸥能够利用来自不同觅食栖息地的各种资源，无论其栖息地位于何处，而且似乎对人为栖息地的依赖程度低于预期。n = 3 个殖民地）比来自开普敦和南部和东海岸殖民地的鸟类（1.7 ± 0.8-3.1 ± 3.7 公里，n = 3）与鸟类在海上觅食时飞行最远。来自所有殖民地的海鸥花费更多的时间在海洋、沿海和自然陆地环境中觅食，而不是在孵化时在经过强烈改造的栖息地中觅食。我们的研究结果表明，南非的海带海鸥能够利用来自不同觅食栖息地的各种资源，无论其栖息地位于何处，而且似乎对人为栖息地的依赖程度低于预期。