PREDATION OF Velella velella BY THE SOOTY TERN Onychoprion fuscatus IN A POPULATION FROM TRINDADE ISLAND, BRAZIL

Abstract

The species Onychoprion fuscatus or Sooty Tern, as it is popularly known, é is considered a marine Bird of pelagic habits, once its breeding areas are restricted to tropical oceanic islands and, according to the scientific literature, the species’ diet is mainly composed by fish and cephalopods. In general, studies reporting the ingestion of cnidarians by seabirds are relatively scarce in the literature, especially regarding reports with determination at the species level. Therefore, here we report the ingestion and regurgitation of Velella velella by O. fuscatus in a breeding colony from Trindade Island, Brazil. Field activities were carried out in October 2017. Apparently, the last report in the literature concerning the predation of V. velella by O. fuscatus was in 1983, by Harrison et al., and corroborates that V. velella contributes to the species’ diet, whilst for Trindade Island ours seems to be the first record.