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Home ยป Food and Feeding Habits of Autumn Migrant Shorebirds at a Small Midwestern Pond
Food and Feeding Habits of Autumn Migrant Shorebirds at a Small Midwestern Pond
Publication Type: | Journal Article |
Year of Publication: | 1967 |
Authors: | Brooks, WS |
Journal: | The Wilson Bulletin |
Volume: | 79 |
Issue: | 3 |
Date Published: | 1967 |
ISBN Number: | 00435643 |
Keywords: | Calidris, Calidris melanotos, Calidris pusilla, Calidris pusillus, Capella, Capella gallinago, Ereunetes, Ereunetes melanotos, Ereunetes pusilla, Ereunetes pusillus, Erolia, Erolia melanotos, Gallinago, Gallinago gallinago, Scolopacidae, Tringa, Tringa flavipes, Xenus, Xenus cinereus |
Abstract: | The general feeding habits of 20 species of shorebirds at a small pond near Champaign, Illinois, were observed and stomach analyses of nine of these species were made during the autumn migrations of 1960 and 1961. The numbers and kinds of available food organisms at the pond were established by quantitative sampling of benthic invertebrates and estimation of relative numbers of free-swimming and shoreline organisms. Although most species did not show dietary specificity, consuming a rather wide array of organisms, all showed dietary selectivity, in that one or a few of the food items were sought out over the others and out of proportion to their abundance. Competition was probably reduced by this selectivity, and where two species shared high preference for the same item, competition was alleviated by the fact that they usually fed at different sites. Aggressive behavior was observed intraspecifically with the Pectoral Sandpiper, and at the peak of migration, interspecifically between these and Lesser Yellowlegs. They may have been actively competing for a preferred food item common to both. The Common Snipe, Pectoral Sandpiper, and Semipalmated Sandpiper appeared to consume considerable amounts of plant material intentionally. The other species probably took it incidentally with animal food. The size or leg-length of the bird partially determined its diet. Small species were apparently unable to forage in deeper water or ingest large organisms. The 20 species were placed into three groups on the basis of their food, general size, main feeding sites, and tendency to feed together. These groups, when feeding, were distinguishable in the field because of their evident zonation. |
URL: | http://www.jstor.org/stable/4159620 |
Short Title: | The Wilson Bulletin |
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Katherine Bouton
Alice Heaton
Dimitris Koureas,
Laurence Livermore,
Dave Roberts,
Simon Rycroft,
Ben Scott,
Vince Smith