New Zealand Journal of Zoology abstracts
Z00021Received and accepted 17 July 2000
Seasonal variation in the diet of stoats in a breeding colony of Hutton's
shearwaters
RICHARD CUTHBERT1*
ERICA SOMMER2
LLOYD S. DAVIS1
1Department of Zoology
University of Otago
P.O. Box 56, Dunedin
210 Surrey Lane
East Setauket
NYU733, USA
*Author for correspondence.
email:
richard_cuthbert@yahoo.co.uk
Abstract The diet of stoats (Mustela erminea) was
studied in the Kowhai valley colony of Hutton's shearwaters (Puffinus
huttoni). Remains of Hutton's shearwaters were found in 785 of 788 scats
examined. Scats contained remains of eggs, chicks, near fledging age chicks and
adult shearwaters, as well as the remains of skinks (Oligosoma sp.)
and weta (Deinacrida sp.). There was seasonal variation in the
frequency of occurrence of all major prey items. Stoats switched from taking
predominantly adults during the pre-egg and incubation periods, to taking
almost exclusively chicks during the chick-rearing period. The impact of stoats
on Hutton's shearwaters may as a consequence of this prey switch be reduced,
because the population is likely to be more affected by the loss of adults
rather than chicks. Stoats continued to feed upon shearwaters, even after all
birds had left the colony. Remains of mice (Mus musculus) and hares
(Lepus europaeus) were infrequently found in scats, although the
occurrence of these along with the occurrence of skinks and weta increased
after all live shearwaters had departed. The results suggest that stoat numbers
may be limited by the availability of over-winter prey within the colony.
Keywords Mustela erminea; Puffinus huttoni;
stoats; Hutton's shearwaters; diet; conservation
New Zealand Journal of Zoology, 2000, Vol. 27: 375-379
0301-4223/00/2704-0375 $7.00/0 (c) The Royal Society of New
Zealand 2000
PDF file of entire paper: medium quality (606K); (scanned from paper original: notes about this process)
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