The winter diet of the Atlantic Puffin Fratercula arctica around the Faroe Islands

Abstract

Most mortality of Atlantic Puffins occurs outside the breeding season but little is known about the species' diet at that timeThe stomach contents of 176 Puffins shot legally for food around the Faroe Islands between October and January in three winters were examinedThe remains of 20 species of fish, six species of crustacea and single species of polychaete, chaetognathid and squid were identifiedThe most frequently recorded prey in terms of frequency of occurrence were 0 group (< 1 year old) Lesser Sandeel Ammodytes marinus (82% of stomachs), followed by mesopelagic fish (52%), nereid worms (41%), Silver Rockling Gaidropsarus argentatus (36%), crustacea (35%), large sandeel (32%) and other large fish (32%)In terms of calculated biomass, nereids (41%), large sandeel (23%) and other large fish (17%) made up the bulk of the diet but the latter two prey types were most important in energetic terms (46% despite accounting for only 9% of items)Stomach contents collected on the same day and location were significantly more similar than those collected on different dates and locations, suggesting that during the winter, Puffins are generalists, taking any prey they encounter.