An exceptionally high diversity of hoverflies (Syrphidae) in the food of the reed warbler (Acrocephalus scirpaceus)

Grim, Tomáš

doi:10.2478/s11756-006-0036-6

Cited by 15 publications

(18 citation statements)

References 12 publications

(18 reference statements)

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“…This type of diet composition was also observed by Bibby & Green (1981), Evans (1989), Grim & Honza (1996), Rguibi Idrissi, Lefebvre & Poulin (2004) and Grim (2006). Once again, average prey size in the reed warbler's diet measured in this study (5.1 mm) was close to that observed by Leisler (1985), 5.4 mm, or Rguibi Idrissi et al (2004, 4.5 -5.4 mm.…”

Section: Diet Specificitysupporting

confidence: 90%

Diet and fuelling of the globally threatened aquatic warbler at autumn migration stopover as compared with two congeners

Kerbiriou¹,

Bargain²,

Viol³

et al. 2010

Animal Conservation

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The effective conservation of aquatic warbler Acrocephalus paludicola, one of the most threatened western Palaearctic migratory passerines, requires good knowledge of its ecological needs at stopover sites. In particular, identifying its diet, which controls the accumulation of fat reserves during migration, facilitates the selection and management of adequately protected areas. Further key information includes the relationship between prey species abundance and habitats of aquatic warbler on stopover. We performed standardized mist netting in the Audierne marshes (western France) during 12 years, which resulted in the capture of 1200 aquatic warblers, and provided measurements for mass gain and the collection of faeces to infer the birds' diet. Invertebrate sampling was carried out in the three main Audierne marsh habitats (reed bed, fen mire and meadow). In order to go beyond prey digestibility bias, we also studied two closely related Acrocephalus species, present at migration stopover sites during the same period. We found that the diet composition of aquatic warbler observed at migration stopover sites is based on large-sized prey (Odonata, Orthoptera, Lepidoptera). Like sedge warblers, aquatic warblers put on weight during migration stopovers (daily mass gain = 0.38 g). This increase in weight suggests that the aquatic warblers might have adopted a strategy for long-distance migration with few stopovers only. Owing to great differences in diet, conservation management for the threatened aquatic warbler at stopover sites should not rely on existing knowledge about sedge and reed warblers. Similarities in the diet of aquatic warbler between nesting areas and migration stopover areas and the relationship between habitat and prey abundance suggest that fen mires play an important role in the quality of the foraging habitat at stopover sites.

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Section: Diet Specificitysupporting

confidence: 90%

Diet and fuelling of the globally threatened aquatic warbler at autumn migration stopover as compared with two congeners

Kerbiriou¹,

Bargain²,

Viol³

et al. 2010

Animal Conservation

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“…The sample size for ‘old mixed’ nests is smaller because of chick mortality and the sample is also smaller for ‘old alone’ nests due to technical reasons. We could not reliably determine sizes of prey items (Grim & Honza 2001), prey taxa (Grim 2006d) or feeding loads (Martín‐Gálvez et al. 2005; Hauber & Moskát 2008) delivered to parasite and host chicks because the cameras were placed above feeding parents.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The sample size for 'old mixed' nests is smaller because of chick mortality and the sample is also smaller for 'old alone' nests due to technical reasons. We could not reliably determine sizes of prey items (Grim & Honza 2001), prey taxa (Grim 2006d) Sexual dimorphism of the redstart hosts allowed determination of the sex of the providing parent for each feeding event. In the analyses of male feedings to cuckoos males in two recording sessions, each at a different nest, were excluded because they did not visit the nests during the video-recordings.…”

Section: Study Site and Field Proceduresmentioning

confidence: 99%

Experimentally Constrained Virulence is Costly for Common Cuckoo Chicks

et al. 2008

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Chicks of some avian brood parasites show high virulence by eliminating all host progeny in the nest whereas others develop in the presence of host nestmates. Common cuckoo (Cuculus canorus) chicks are typically highly virulent parasites as they attempt to evict all host eggs and chicks soon after hatching. However, several features of nest design, including steep walls and/or cavity nests, may effectively prevent cuckoo hatchlings from evicting nestmates. A previous observational study showed low success of cuckoo chicks in evicting progeny of a cavity nester host, the redstart (Phoenicurus phoenicurus) but cuckoo chicks showed low survival both when reared alone or in mixed broods with host nestmates. Whether poor cuckoo performance was caused by eviction costs and/or by the effect of presence of host chicks per se remains unclear. We experimentally cancelled any potential eviction costs by removing host eggs immediately after the cuckoo hatched and creating mixed broods 5 days later when the eviction instinct of the cuckoo already ceased. Cuckoos that were forced to compete with host nestlings experienced lower provisioning rates, poorer growth, and lower fledging success than control lone cuckoos. Cuckoos in mixed broods that survived until fledging fledged later, and at lower masses, than those in the sole cuckoo group. Thus, the cuckoo gens specializing on redstarts is similar to other cuckoo gentes, whose chicks are more successful in evicting host nestmates, and it does not benefit from the presence of host brood. Cohabitation with host nestlings then should be viewed as a maladaptive by‐product of host cavity nest design.

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“…low number of studied hosts) makes it difficult to assess the generality of such differences. Cuckoo nestling diet composition has been quantified, often with very small sample sizes, for just 4 hosts: Eurasian Reed-Warblers (Acrocephalus scirpaceus; Brooke and Davies 1989, Grim and Honza 1997, Grim 2006b), Great Reed-Warblers (A. arundinaceus; Mayer 1971, Trnka 1995, Rufous-tailed Scrub-Robins (Cercotrichas galactotes; Martín-Gálvez et al 2005), and Great Tits (Parus major; Grim et al 2014a). Yang et al (2013) reported that Verditer Flycatchers (Eumyias thalassinus) effectively killed cuckoo hatchlings by feeding them only insects protected by thick exoskeletons (beetles and grasshoppers), but their study did not quantify diet composition.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%