Previously Unknown Food Items in the Diet of Six Neotropical Bird Species

2008 ◽  
Vol 120 (1) ◽  
pp. 214-216 ◽  
Author(s):  
Luis Sandoval ◽  
Esteban Biamonte ◽  
Alejandro Solano-Ugalde
Keyword(s):  
Bird Species ◽  
Food Items

scholarly journals Diet of Ornate Hawk-Eagle (Spizaetus ornatus)

2019 ◽  
Vol 27 (1) ◽  
pp. 31-39 ◽  
Author(s):  
Fagner Daniel Teixeira ◽  
Elisa Paraíso Mesquita ◽  
Michele Alves Ferreira ◽  
Felipe Carvalho de Araújo
Keyword(s):  
Literature Review ◽  
Field Observation ◽  
Food Habits ◽  
Bird Species ◽  
Young Individual ◽  
Top Predator ◽  
Espinhaço Range ◽  
Food Items ◽  
Minas Gerais State ◽  
Report Data

AbstractThe Ornate Hawk-Eagle (Spizaetus ornatus) is a top predator and inhabits mainly preserved forests. It occurs from Mexico to Argentina and throughout Brazil, where it is threatened by extinction. It hunts birds, mammals and reptiles, picking up both on the ground and on the branches in the forest. Here we report data on a pair and one young individual of this species registered in the southeast of Minas Gerais state, eastern portion of the Espinhaço Range, Brazil. In addition, a literature review on the diet of the species was carried out aiming gather data on food habits. The nesting territory, as well as the nest was discovered in semi-deciduous seasonal forest area. We recorded predation of a Lesser Yellow-headed Vulture (Cathartes burrovianus) by the young. After two days of observation, the nest was overthrown, what allowed its screening for other food items discovered after analysis of some feathers and bones. Detailed records of predation of S. ornatus were non-existent or inaccurate. Taking together our own field observation and the literature review, we found 121 taxa consumed by S. ornatus. A total of 78 bird species were reported, mainly Galliformes, followed by medium-sized mammals (38 species), well represented by Rodentia and Primates.

scholarly journals Azure-winged magpies’ decisions to share food are contingent on the presence or absence of food for the recipient

2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Jorg J. M. Massen ◽  
Sofia M. Haley ◽  
Thomas Bugnyar
Keyword(s):  
Bird Species ◽  
Social Awareness ◽  
Equal Access ◽  
Base Line ◽  
Vocal Cues ◽  
Food Items ◽  
Helping Others ◽  
Opposite Sex ◽  
High Level ◽  
Sharing Behavior

Abstract Helping others is a key feature of human behavior. However, recent studies render this feature not uniquely human, and describe discoveries of prosocial behavior in non-human primates, other social mammals, and most recently in some bird species. Nevertheless, the cognitive underpinnings of this prosociality; i.e., whether animals take others’ need for help into account, often remain obscured. In this study, we take a first step in investigating prosociality in azure-winged magpies by presenting them with the opportunity to share highly desired food with their conspecifics i) in a situation in which these conspecifics had no such food, ii) in a situation in which they too had access to that highly desired food, and iii) in an open, base-line, situation where all had equal access to the same food and could move around freely. We find that azure-winged magpies regularly share high-value food items, preferably with, but not restricted to, members of the opposite sex. Most notably, we find that these birds, and specifically the females, seem to differentiate between whether others have food or do not have food, and subsequently cater to that lack. Begging calls by those without food seem to function as cues that elicit the food-sharing, but the response to that begging is condition-dependent. Moreover, analyses on a restricted dataset that excluded those events in which there was begging showed exactly the same patterns, raising the possibility that the azure-winged magpies might truly notice when others have access to fewer resources (even in the absence of vocal cues). This sharing behavior could indicate a high level of social awareness and prosociality that should be further investigated. Further studies are needed to establish the order of intentionality at play in this system, and whether azure-winged magpies might be able to attribute desire states to their conspecifics.

The Diet of American Robins: An Analysis of U.S. Biological Survey Records

The Auk ◽  
1986 ◽  
Vol 103 (4) ◽  
pp. 710-725 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nathaniel T. Wheelwright
Keyword(s):  
Quantitative Description ◽  
Geographical Location ◽  
Bird Species ◽  
Stomach Contents ◽  
Time Of Day ◽  
Food Items ◽  
Biological Survey ◽  
American Robins ◽  
Differential Digestion ◽  
The U.S

Abstract I present a quantitative description of the diet of American Robins (Turdus migratorius) and consider how food habits (particularly the proportion of fruit eaten and the diversity of individual meals) are influenced by season, habitat, sex, and time of day. The study is based on an analysis of records of stomach contents compiled by the U.S. Biological Survey and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Across their entire range, robins ate fruits representing over 50 genera and invertebrates representing over 100 families. Diets were diverse even within local regions, and there was no obvious single feeding niche. The major food classes, consumed in every combination, were soft-bodied invertebrates, hard-bodied invertebrates, and fruits. The same taxa (especially fruits of the family Rosaceae and invertebrates of the orders Coleoptera and Lepidoptera) predominated in robins' diets, irrespective of habitat or geographical location, which presumably reflects both selective foraging and the availability of these widespread taxa. The proportion of fruit (by volume) in the diet was much higher in the fall and winter (median values >90%) than in the spring (<10%); summer values were intermediate. The transition from a diet dominated by invertebrates to a diet dominated by fruits occurred over a 1-2-month period. The number of distinct food items in stomachs, a measure of the species diversity of individual meals, was positively correlated with the fraction of invertebrates in the diet. Thus, at the time of year when robins were dependent on fruits for food, the diversity of their meals was also lowest. The degree of fullness of the stomach showed few consistent trends with season or habitat. Despite different sex roles and nutritional requirements, male and female robins did not differ in the proportion of fruit in the diet in any month or in any region. Nor did their stomachs contain different numbers of distinct food items, different amounts of food, or a different range or distribution of prey taxa. Habitat was an important variable explaining dietary differences. The Biological Survey records have unavoidable shortcomings, most notably problems of sampling biases and the inability to correct for differential digestion of food items. Nonetheless, they are a valuable and underused data base for testing hypotheses, generating new questions of ecological interest, and describing in detail the diets of North American bird species.

Relationships between alien plants and an alien bird species on Reunion Island

2004 ◽  
Vol 20 (6) ◽  
pp. 635-642 ◽  
Author(s):  
Isabelle Mandon-Dalger ◽  
Philippe Clergeau ◽  
Jacques Tassin ◽  
Jean-Noël Rivière ◽  
Sylvain Gatti
Keyword(s):  
Native Species ◽  
Bird Species ◽  
Alien Plants ◽  
Lantana Camara ◽  
Reunion Island ◽  
Positive Interaction ◽  
Schinus Terebinthifolius ◽  
Food Items ◽  
Réunion Island ◽  
Coefficient Of Velocity

Many studies have shown that plant or bird invasions can be facilitated by native species, but few have demonstrated the possibility of a positive interaction between introduced species. We analysed the relationships between four invasive alien fleshy-fruited plants, Clidemia hirta, Rubus alceifolius, Lantana camara, Schinus terebinthifolius, and an invasive alien bird, the red-whiskered bulbul Pycnonotus jocosus introduced to Reunion Island (Indian Ocean). We compared the distribution of food items in the bulbul diet according to seasons and to abundance classes of this bird. Pycnonotus jocosus is mostly frugivorous and frequently eats the main alien plants (more than 80% frequency of food items). Sites with alien species, such as Clidemia hirta, providing fruits throughout the year supported more birds than sites providing fruits, such as Schinus terebinthifolius, seasonally. The birds facilitated seed germination by removing the pulp of fruit: the final per cent germination (FG) of cleaned seeds was higher than those within the fruit for three of the four plant species and in some cases passage through birds significantly increased FG (Schinus terebinthifolius) or Coefficient of Velocity (CV) (Lantana camara).

scholarly journals Diet composition of the Pharaoh Eagle Owl, Bubo ascalaphus (Strigiformes, Strigidae) in a Steppe region of Algeria

2021 ◽  
Vol 29 (2) ◽  
pp. 177-182
Author(s):  
Naceur Benamor ◽  
Toufik Guetouache ◽  
Farid Bounaceur
Keyword(s):  
Diet Composition ◽  
Bird Species ◽  
Total Biomass ◽  
Food Items ◽  
Important Prey ◽  
Steppe Region ◽  
Eagle Owl ◽  
Western Algeria ◽  
North Western ◽  
Prey Items

Abstract The diet composition of Pharaoh Eagle Owl (Bubo ascalaphus) was investigated in a semiarid area of North-western Algeria. A total of 65 pellets regurgitated by the B. ascalaphus were analysed, 288 food items were composed primarily of mammal remains (4 rodents, 1 bat and insectivore, 93.7%), and 1 bird species (passerine, 6.3%). The most frequent prey among the mammals were rodents (83.3%), which included Mus musculus (59.7%), Meriones shawi (11.1%), Meriones libycus (11.1%) and Jaculus jaculus (1.4%). The rodents were the most important prey items in biomass (91.4%), M. shawi made up to 41.9% of the total biomass. We may conclude that the Pharaoh Eagle Owl relies, in its feeding, very broadly on small mammals, completed by other groups.

scholarly journals Colour Preferences of UK Garden Birds at Supplementary Seed Feeders

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Luke Rothery ◽  
Graham W. Scott ◽  
Lesley J. Morrell
Keyword(s):  
Colour Vision ◽  
Bird Species ◽  
Common Garden ◽  
Supplementary Feeding ◽  
Bird Populations ◽  
Food Items ◽  
Human Wellbeing ◽  
Garden Birds ◽  
Number Of Visits ◽  
Colour Preferences

AbstractSupplementary feeding of garden birds has benefits for both bird populations and human wellbeing. Birds have excellent colour vision, and show preferences for food items of particular colours, but research into colour preferences associated with artificial feeders is limited to hummingbirds. Here, we investigated the colour preferences of common UK garden birds foraging at seed-dispensing artificial feeders containing identical food. We presented birds simultaneously with an array of eight differently coloured feeders, and recorded the number of visits made to each colour over 370 30-minute observation periods in the winter of 2014/15. In addition, we surveyed visitors to a garden centre and science festival to determine the colour preferences of likely purchasers of seed feeders. Our results suggest that silver and green feeders were visited by higher numbers of individuals of several common garden bird species, while red and yellow feeders received fewer visits. In contrast, people preferred red, yellow, blue and green feeders.

scholarly journals Molecular sexing and intersexual differences in the morphometry of the Hangnest Tody-Tyrant Hemitriccus nidipendulus (Passeriformes: Rhynchocyclidae)

2019 ◽  
Vol 36 ◽  
pp. 1-6
Author(s):  
Reinaldo T. Medeiros ◽  
Flávia G. Chaves ◽  
Maurício B. Vecchi ◽  
Denise M. Nogueira ◽  
Maria Alice S. Alves
Keyword(s):  
Bird Species ◽  
Pcr Amplification ◽  
Molecular Sexing ◽  
Molecular Configuration ◽  
Base Pairs ◽  
Morphometric Measurements ◽  
Blood Samples ◽  
Future Studies ◽  
Food Items ◽  
Males And Females

Variation in the morphometry of individuals in a population may result from natural or sexual selection. In the present study we investigated morphometric differences between males and females of a bird species endemic to the Brazilian Atlantic Forest, the Hangnest Tody-Tyrant, Hemitriccus nidipendulus (Wied, 1831), with no apparent sexual dimorphism. All individuals (n = 56) were sexed by PCR amplification of the intronic fragments of the CHDZ/CHDW alleles obtained from blood samples, and 12 morphometric measurements were recorded. The molecular configuration was similar to that described for other species of Passeriformes, with males presenting a single band of approximately 360 base pairs (bp), and females with two bands of 360 and 400 bp. Males had significantly larger tarsi and wings than the females, while the females had two larger beak measurements. This indicates that differential selection pressures may be modeling the morphometry of the Hangnest Tody-Tyrant. In the males, larger tarsi and wings may be beneficial for the exploration of the habitat or the acquisition of potential mates, while females with larger beaks may be able to exploit larger food items and forage more efficiently. However, these hypotheses need to be tested empirically in future studies.

scholarly journals Diet of the Endemic Madeira Laurel Pigeon and Fruit Resource Availability: A Study Using Microhistological Analyses

The Condor ◽  
2002 ◽  
Vol 104 (4) ◽  
pp. 811-822
Author(s):  
Paulo Oliveira ◽  
Patricia Marrero ◽  
Manuel Nogales
Keyword(s):  
Seasonal Variation ◽  
Resource Availability ◽  
Food Resource ◽  
Bird Species ◽  
Temporal Variations ◽  
Optical Fields ◽  
Fecal Samples ◽  
Food Items ◽  
Myrica Faya ◽  
Laurus Azorica

Abstract We studied the temporal diet variation of the endemic Madeira Laurel Pigeon (Columba trocaz) and fruit resource availability in the laurel forests of northwestern Madeira Island, during 1996 and 1997. We studied a total of 224 fecal samples using microhistological methods and conducted surveys of fruiting phenology throughout a year. Fruits (pulp and seeds) represented 57% of the optical fields analyzed. Leaves and flowers constituted 38% and <1% respectively. Over 33 plant species were identified in the fecal samples. Fruits of Ocotea foetens, Laurus azorica, Persea indica, and Ilex canariensis (fruits and leaves) were the most frequently detected food items. Most seeds were defecated intact (Ilex canariensis, Myrica faya, Visnea mocanera, Ocotea foetens, and Apollonias barbujana), except in the case of Laurus azorica where most were damaged. The diet showed a marked seasonal variation. Fruits constituted the major component of the diet in winter and autumn, whereas leaves were frequent in spring and summer. The presence of fruits in the diet was concordant with their availability, and leaves and flowers became important when fruits were scarce. This fact suggests that the Madeira Laurel Pigeon is capable of dietary switching, corresponding to temporal variations in food resource availability. This microhistological technique shows promise for study of the diets of pigeons and other herbivorous bird species. Dieta de Columba trocaz y Su Relación con la Disponibilidad de Frutos: Un Estudio Realizado Mediante Análisis Microhistológicos Resumen. Se estudió la dieta estacional de Columba trocaz y la disponibilidad de frutos en los bosques de laurisilva de la zona noroeste de la Isla Madeira, durante 1996 y 1997. Se analizó un total de 224 excrementos mediante métodos microhistológicos, y se realizó un seguimiento estacional de la disponibilidad de frutos, por medio de transectos, a lo largo de un año. Los frutos (pulpa y semillas) representaron un 57% de los campos ópticos analizados; las hojas y las flores constituyeron un 38% y <1%, respectivamente. Más de 33 especies fueron identificadas en los excrementos; restos de frutos de Ocotea foetens, Laurus azorica, Persea indica e Ilex canariensis (tanto frutos como hojas) resultaron ser los más frecuentemente detectados. La mayoría de las semillas fueron defecadas intactas (Ilex canariensis, Myrica faya, Visnea mocanera, Ocotea foetens y Apollonias barbujana), excepto en el caso de Laurus azorica, donde la mayoría de ellas aparecieron dañadas. La dieta mostró un marcado carácter estacional, constituyendo los frutos el componente más importante en invierno y otoño, mientras que las hojas fueron más abundantes en primavera y verano. La presencia de frutos en los excrementos fue concordante con su disponibilidad, adquiriendo una mayor relevancia las hojas y las flores cuando la producción de los frutos fue escasa. Este hecho sugiere que C. trocaz exhibe una alta flexibilidad en la dieta, aprovechando aquellos recursos que son estacionalmente abundantes. Los resultados obtenidos en estos análisis microhistológicos ofrecen un aceptable nivel de fiabilidad para ser utilizados en estudios sobre dieta de palomas y, probablemente, extensibles a otras aves herbívoras.

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