scholarly journals Food Habits of Dabbling Ducks During Fall Migration in a Prairie Pothole System, Heron Lake, Minnesota

2005 ◽  
Vol 119 (4) ◽  
pp. 546 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ryan M. Wersal ◽  
Brock R. McMillan ◽  
John D. Madsen

We conducted an analysis of dabbling duck food habits in the fall of 2002 and 2003 in the Heron Lake system. Gizzard contents of hunter-harvested birds were analyzed using the percent aggregate volume method to determine what food items were consumed and in what quantity. Curltop Ladysthumb (Polygonum lapathifolium) was the food item consumed most often (82.2%) and in the greatest volume (34.2 ml). Sago Pondweed (Stuckenia pectinata) was the only food item of which multiple plant parts were consumed. However, the seeds and tubers only comprised 1.27 and 0.07 of the total aggregate percent.

2021 ◽  
Vol 44 (3) ◽  
pp. 161-166
Author(s):  
D. O. Odedeyi ◽  
I. M. Odedire

Fecundity study is important in order to evaluate the reproductive potentials of fish species. Thus, fecundity and food habits of Hippopotamyrus ansorgii (H. ansorgii) from Ogbese river were investigated. Total of 32 specimens of H. ansorgii were used. The major fishing method employed for collecting the specimens were cast and gill netting. Fecundity and food habits the fish were studied. The total lengths ranged from 14.6 cm to 22.1cm while the body weights ranged from 30.0 to 91.0 g. The food items found in the examined stomachs were rotifer, algae, insects, crustacean, detritus and plant parts but the major food items based on the ranking index were insects and crustaceans. The sex ratio of H. ansorgii was 1.13: 1 for males: females. The gonadosomatic index showed that H. ansorgii in Ogbese river uses an average of 11.69% of its body weight in egg production. Fecundity ranged from 600 to 7200 eggs with an average of 3231 eggs per female. In conclusion, H. ansorgii in Ogbese river was an omnivore and highly fecund fish.


1983 ◽  
Vol 61 (7) ◽  
pp. 1547-1550 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thomas D. Nudds

E. J. Tramer (1969. Ecology, 50: 927–929) proposed that the "regulation" of community diversity by changes in richness or evenness are alternatives found in predictable, nonrigorous environments with "equilibrium" communities and unpredictable, rigorous environments with "opportunistic" communities, respectively. Twenty-six years of diving and dabbling duck census data from relatively benign aspen parkland habitats, and 9 years of the same data from more rigorous mixed prairie habitats, showed little agreement with the hypothesis. Over time, only mixed prairie dabbling ducks showed changes in diversity in agreement with the hypothesis; i.e., diversity changed owing to changes in evenness in the more rigorous environment. Within guilds, changes in diversity over space were all related to changes in evenness, but only dabbling ducks had higher evenness in the less rigorous environment; the reverse was true for diving ducks. Thus, studies that use Tramer's hypothesis as a basis for distinguishing between the mechanisms responsible for community diversity in benign and rigorous environments (i.e., competition versus variation in resource abundance and diversity, respectively) are of limited value.


1992 ◽  
Vol 56 (4) ◽  
pp. 740 ◽  
Author(s):  
John D. Thompson ◽  
Barbara J. Sheffer ◽  
Guy A. Baldassarre
Keyword(s):  

2019 ◽  
Vol 27 (1) ◽  
pp. 31-39 ◽  
Author(s):  
Fagner Daniel Teixeira ◽  
Elisa Paraíso Mesquita ◽  
Michele Alves Ferreira ◽  
Felipe Carvalho de Araújo

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.


2015 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 7-15 ◽  
Author(s):  
Md. Abdur Razzaq Joadder

Food and feeding habits of fishes have a great significance in aquaculture practices. It helps to select such species of fishes for culture which will utilize all the available potential food of the water bodies without much competition with one another but will live in association with other fishes. This paper deals with the feeding intensity and food habits of L. bata . Food and feeding habit of freshwater minor carp Labeo bata (120 to 250 mm total length) were studied. The fish is a herbivore, feeding mainly on algae (22.32 %), higher plant parts (31.26 %), protozoans (7.42 %), crustaceans (15.33 %), insects (3.56 %), muds, sand, debris and detritus (16.32 %) and unidentified food materials (3.99%).Journal of Science Foundation, 2014;12(1):7-15


2019 ◽  
Vol 43 (2) ◽  
pp. 116-120
Author(s):  
Nurit Dagon ◽  
Tal Ratson ◽  
Benjamin Peretz ◽  
Sigalit Blumer

Introduction. Knowledge of oral health (KOH) among mothers has an important influence on their children's oral habits and routines. Lack of maternal KOH had been related to the development of early childhood caries among preschool children. Aim. To assess KOH among mothers of 1–4 year-olds. Study design. Participating mothers completed a 3-part questionnaire on general demographic information, KOH of their children, and ranking of six food items according to their cariogenic potential. Results. Most of the 285 participating mothers had an academic education. Only 47% of the mothers correctly answered seven questions on KOH. The dentist was the main source for KOH. Most of the mothers (94.39%) were aware of the need to brush their children's teeth twice daily. Most of them (72.29%) did not know the correct fluoride concentration in their child's toothpaste. They ranked salty snacks as the least cariogenic food item. Most of the mothers were not aware that snacks and sweetened drinks should be consumed during meals, and two-thirds reported tasting food from their child's spoon. Conclusion. Overall, mothers of toddlers lacked basic knowledge of oral health issues and practices to follow for the prevention of their children's caries.


2010 ◽  
Vol 58 (spe4) ◽  
pp. 1-9 ◽  
Author(s):  
Luana Prestrelo Palmeira ◽  
Cassiano Monteiro-Neto

The ecomorphology and food habits of juvenile Trachinotus carolinus and Menticirrhus littoralis caught in the surf zone of sandy beaches in Niterói, RJ, were investigated between July 2006 and May 2007. These fish species differ morphologically, but present similarities in their diet composition suggest some slight overlapping in their diet. The importance of food items was assessed using Kawakami and Vazzoler's feeding index. Morphometric variables were recorded to correlate with the diet composition of the different size classes for each species. A total of 210 fishes (Trachinotus carolinus - 122, Menticirrhus littoralis - 88), ranging between 24.2 mm and 112 mm total length, were analyzed, but the stomachs of only 84.8% of them contained food. Trachinotus carolinus presented mysids, Polychaetes and Emerita spp. as the predominant items in their diet. Formicidae and Isopoda were the most important items for class I individuals, whereas mysids and Emerita spp. were important for classes II and III. Class I individuals also showed smaller sized prey (amphipods and isopods) and clupeid fish larvae in their diet. Emerita spp. dominated the food items of Menticirrhus littoralis regardless of the size class. Polychaetes, the second most important item was better represented in class sizes II and III. The main morphometric variable correlated with such differences included mouth position and diameter of the eye.


2002 ◽  
Vol 61 (4) ◽  
pp. 553-558 ◽  
Author(s):  
Antonia Trichopoulou ◽  
Androniki Naska ◽  
Tina Costacou ◽  

Socially-and culturally-patterned differences in food habits exist both between and within European populations. Daily individual food availability data, collected through the national household budget surveys (HBS) and harmonized in the context of the Data Food Networking (DAFNE) project, were used to assess disparities in food habits of seven European populations and to evaluate dietary changes within a 10-year interval. The availability of selected food items was further estimated according to the educational level of the household head and, based only on the Greek HBS data, according to quintiles of the household's food purchasing capacity. Results for overall food availability support the north-south differentiation in food habits. Generally, the availability of most food items, including foods such as vegetable fats, animal lipids and sugar products, has decreased over the 10 years. Households in which the head was in the higher education categories reported lower availability for most food items, with the exception of low-fat milk, fresh fruit, animal lipids and soft drinks; the latter showing a sharp increase even within southern European households. The household's food purchasing capacity can be used as an indicator of socio-economic status, with higher values being associated with lower status. Greek households of lower social class follow a healthier diet in terms of greater availability of vegetable oils, fresh vegetables, legumes, fish and seafood. Data from the DAFNE databank may serve as a tool for identifying and quantifying variation in food habits in Europe, as well as for providing information on the socio-economic determinants of food preferences.


1982 ◽  
Vol 60 (6) ◽  
pp. 1383-1387 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kjell Sjöberg ◽  
Kjell Danell

The diel emergence of chironomids, an insect group important as food item for both adult and young ducks, was studied in relation to the feeding activity and behaviour of ducks on a northern Swedish lake (66°3′ N, 23°46′ E) during 1975–1978. Emergence and swarming activity of chironomids peaked between 0800 and 1200. Emergence occurred even on windy days, but almost completely ceased during periods of rainy and cold weather. Swarming occurred mainly around 1000 on warm days with little or no wind. During such occasions, a large number of chironomids were observed over the entire surface of the lake. Dabbling ducks fed throughout a 24-h period, but peak feeding coincided with periods of chironomid emergence. Surface feeding by both dabbling and diving ducks on chironomid imagines present on the water surface and on emergent vegetation increased during these periods of chironomid emergence.


Behaviour ◽  
1987 ◽  
Vol 102 (3-4) ◽  
pp. 168-183 ◽  
Author(s):  
JEAN-PIERRE L. Savard ◽  
James N.M. Smith

AbstractWe describe interspecific aggression and territoriality by a diving duck, the Barrow's goldeneye. Males of this species are strongly interspecifically territorial early during the breeding season, and in winter. Females are interspecifically territorial while tending broods of ducklings. Aggression was strongest against conspecifics, and against the con-generic bufflehead, which shares the same breeding habitat. Other diving ducks, which overlap in diet with goldeneyes, were frequently attacked, while dabbling ducks, with differing feeding habits, were generally tolerated, and were seldom attacked. One dabbling duck, the blue-winged teal, in which the drake resembles the Barrow's goldeneye drake in plumage, was attacked more strongly than other dabblers. We propose that the strong interspecific aggressiveness exhibited by the Barrow's goldeneye, and its congeners the bufflehead and common goldeneye, is a consequence of the strong intraspecific aggressiveness of these species. Selectivity in aggression towards victims of different species can be explained by two hypotheses. Species that have (1) similar diets, and (2) similar plumages to Barrow's goldeneye are selectively attacked.


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