Black-browed albatross foraging on jellyfish prey in the southeast Pacific coast, southern Chile

Direct observations on Black-browed albatross (BBA, Thalassarche melanophrys) feeding have been barely informed. An item considered scarce in the Diomedeidae diets is jellyfishes, due to the impossibility of recognizing them from bird regurgitates or their feces. By means of direct visual records, BBAs were seen capturing jellyfish in southern Chilean coasts (40S). These birds used the surface seizing method over short periods (< 13 s), feeding mainly on jellyfish umbrella. The prey corresponds to the family Ulmaridae, neritic cnidarians distributed in the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans. Difficulties arose when determining the identity of cnidarians to species level mainly due to the lack of reference material on Chile and few studies on this region. The present contribution helps to add to the few registers of the in situ feeding activity of BBAs in the waters of the southeast Pacific Ocean.