Seabird foraging activities are constrained by the heterogeneous distribution of prey, intra-specific competition, and the varying energy requirements throughout their life history. Investigations of intra-seasonal variation in foraging habitat will, therefore, provide clues to understand how predators respond to changes in the marine environment. As an abundant, central-place foraging mesopredator, we selected to examine this with Adélie penguins (Pygoscelis adeliae) breeding in the Prydz Bay region where the sea-ice environment is heterogeneous and the largest populations in East Antarctica occur. In the summer of 2011/12, using GPS tracks, we calculated First Passage Time to extract Area Restricted Search (ARS) zones to indicate foraging intensity, and classified the ARS zones by K-means clustering. In total, 47, 64, 23 and 10 ARS zones were detected during early and late incubation, chick-guard and crèche stages (n = 4, 11, 6 and 3 birds). Higher and more stable sea-ice concentration and increased distance from the nearest major colony had positive effects on foraging intensity. The ARS zones were classified into nearshore, offshore and open water habitats. Birds used offshore areas and avoided open water during early incubation and crèche, when birds returned less frequently. During late incubation and chick-guard, when birds frequently returned, they used nearshore and open water areas as expected from the proportion of available habitats. Our results suggest that the pack ice and reduced intra-specific competition for prey were the preferred foraging condition for Adélie penguins, and highlight the importance of seasonal changes in sea-ice environment to their foraging habitat selectivity.

海鸟觅食活动受到猎物的异质分布、种内竞争以及整个生命历史中不同能量需求的限制。因此，对觅食栖息地的季节性变化的调查将为了解捕食者如何应对海洋环境变化提供线索。作为一种丰富的、中心地点觅食的中食性动物，我们选择在普里兹湾地区繁殖的阿德利企鹅 ( Pygoscelis adeliae )进行研究，该地区海冰环境异质且南极洲东部有最大的种群。2011/12 年夏天，我们使用 GPS 轨迹计算 First Passage Time 提取区域限制搜索 (ARS) 区域以指示觅食强度，并按K对 ARS 区域进行分类- 表示聚类。在孵化早期和晚期、雏鸡守卫和托儿所阶段，总共检测到 47、64、23 和 10 个 ARS 区（n = 4、11、6 和 3 只鸟）。更高和更稳定的海冰浓度以及与最近的主要群体的距离增加对觅食强度有积极影响。ARS 区域分为近岸、近海和开阔水域栖息地。在早期孵化和托儿所期间，鸟类使用近海区域并避免开放水域，因为鸟类返回的频率较低。在孵化后期和小鸡守卫期间，当鸟类频繁返回时，它们会按照可用栖息地比例的预期使用近岸和开阔水域。我们的研究结果表明，浮冰和减少的种内对猎物的竞争是阿德利企鹅的首选觅食条件，并强调了海冰环境的季节性变化对其觅食栖息地选择性的重要性。