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Home ยป Within-Season Trends in the Foraging Behavior of the Mountain Chickadee
Within-Season Trends in the Foraging Behavior of the Mountain Chickadee
Publication Type: | Journal Article |
Year of Publication: | 1995 |
Authors: | Kleintjes, PK, Dahlsten, DL |
Journal: | The Wilson Bulletin |
Volume: | 107 |
Issue: | 4 |
Date Published: | 1995 |
ISBN Number: | 00435643 |
Keywords: | Corvidae, Corvus, Corvus corone, Paridae, Parus, Parus gambeli, Poecile, Poecile gambeli |
Abstract: | We compared foraging behaviors of adult Mountain Chickadees (Parus gambeli) within and among breeding seasons. Foraging behaviors differed little between nestling and fledgling "feeding" periods of the breeding cycle with the exception of substrate use and foraging distance from the bole. During the nestling period birds spent the majority of foraging time searching for prey on the needles in the outer crown whereas during the fledgling period the birds spent significantly less time in the outer crown yet more time on new shoots. Among year variation was significant for the majority of foraging variables and data pooled for the entire breeding season masked within season trends. Our results indicate that within season comparisons of foraging behavior are important for revealing significant trends in behavior. They also suggest that Mountain Chickadees are opportunistic feeders and may time their breeding season with the growth of white fir so that older nestlings or fledglings are present when new shoots are expanded and thus contain a greater availability of prey to meet the demands of the older offspring. |
URL: | http://www.jstor.org/stable/4163602 |
Short Title: | The Wilson Bulletin |
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Ed Baker,
Katherine Bouton
Alice Heaton
Dimitris Koureas,
Laurence Livermore,
Dave Roberts,
Simon Rycroft,
Ben Scott,
Vince Smith