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Articles

Vol. 51 No. 4 (2020)

SANDERLING SCAVENGING CRAB FRAGMENTS FROM A FORAGING WESTERN GULL

DOI:
https://doi.org/10.21199/WB51.4.7
Submitted
September 14, 2025
Published
October 1, 2020

Abstract

 Th Sanderling (Calidris alba) normally forages on a variety of live prey (Macwhirter et al. 2002). Thre are only a few previous reports of Sanderlings scavenging dead prey, including the carcasses of dead jellyfih and fihes on beaches (Gochfeld and Burger 1980, King 1981, Grimm 1984, Reneerkens et al. 2009). In two of these reports the Sanderlings scavenged fih carcasses aftr they had been ripped open by scavenging Herring Gulls (Larus argentatus; Gochfeld and Burger 1980) or Lesser Black-backed Gulls (L. fuscus; King 1981). In this note we document a Sanderling scavenging a crab preyed upon by a foraging Western Gull (L. occidentalis).

References