Food of double-crested cormorants, Phalacrocorax auritus, in the Gulf and Estuary of the St. Lawrence River, Quebec, Canada

摘要

Between 1994 and 1996, a total of 613 Double-crested Cormorant (Phalacrocorax auritus) regurgitations were collected at four colonies located in the St. Lawrence Estuary and one colony on the North Shore of the Gulf of St. Lawrence. The diet comprised a great variety of prey, with fishes well represented. Capelin (Mallotus villosus) and sand lance (Ammodytes sp.) together constituted most of the diet, (i.e., frequency of occurrence 66%, numerical frequency 68%, and volume 50%). Sand lance, which were nearly absent in regurgitations from the Estuary, were important in the diet of cormorants from the North Shore of the Gulf. At the North Shore colony, capelin were much more abundant in the diet in 1996 than in 1995, which correlates with independent fisheries data. In contrast to the results of previous studies of this cormorant's diet, our results show a preponderance of schooling fishes over benthic species. We suggest that this reflects a recent trend towards an increase in the abundance of schooling fishes in the St. Lawrence Estuary and Gulf. Overfishing of predatory fishes and oceanographic factors could be involved. [References: 28]