Hermit crabs in the diet of Pigeon Guillemots at Kachemak Bay, Alaska
Colonial Waterbirds
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Abstract
Guillemots (Cepphus spp.) feed their chicks a diet that is almost exclusively fish. We observed Pigeon Guillemots (C. columba) at two colonies in Alaska where hermit crabs (Crustacea: Anomura) were a major part of the diet for some nestlings. Hermit crabs were delivered to three of five observed nests at one colony, comprised between 2% and 22% of the items delivered at those nests, and were the second most common food type at one nest. Hermit crabs may be an attractive prey item when lipid-rich forage fish are scarce, and crabs living in gastropod shells that have been softened by encrustations of Suberites sponges may be vulnerable to guillemot predation.
| Publication type | Article |
|---|---|
| Publication Subtype | Journal Article |
| Title | Hermit crabs in the diet of Pigeon Guillemots at Kachemak Bay, Alaska |
| Series title | Colonial Waterbirds |
| DOI | 10.2307/1521913 |
| Volume | 21 |
| Issue | 2 |
| Year Published | 1998 |
| Language | English |
| Publisher | The Waterbird Society |
| Contributing office(s) | Alaska Science Center, Alaska Science Center Biology MFEB |
| Description | 3 p. |
| First page | 242 |
| Last page | 244 |
| Country | United States |
| State | Alaska |
| Other Geospatial | Cook Inlet, Kachemak Bay |