Food of Some Australian Birds

Rose, A B

doi:10.1071/mu973177

Cited by 16 publications

(7 citation statements)

References 2 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…Unfortunately, published accounts of stomach contents have rarely indicated the size of the insects taken (e.g. Rose 1973). Lea & Gray (1936) examined the contents of 18 stomachs of New Holland honeyeaters collected mainly around Adelaide and reported the presence of a variety of insects from several orders, but also stated that many of the remains were unidentifiable, and fragments of minute insects were common.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The diet of the New Holland honeyeater, Phylidonyris novaehollandiae

Paton

1982

Australian Journal of Ecology

102

118

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

New Holland honeyeaters collect nectar, manna or honeydew for energy and hawk small flying insects for protein. The insects taken were usually Diptera and Hymenoptera weighing 0.7 mg dry weight or less. Net rates of energy gain from hawking small flying insects were usually less than 20 J min~' and sometimes negative and insufficient to meet the bird's daily energy requirements. Those from feeding on nectar, manna or honeydew were usually above40J min~^ andoftenabove400J min~^ atdawn and the birds depended on these carbohydrates for energy. Nectar, manna and honeydew contained negligible amounts of protein, and the birds used small flying insects as sources of protein, and presumably other nutrients. Given that carbohydrate resources supply better rates of energy gain than insects. New Holland honeyeaters should collect their energy requirements from carbohydrates and only collect sufficient insects to satisfy their protein requirements. Estimates of the food intakes of both non-breeding and breedig birds showed that they did this. Non-breeding New Holland honeyeaters collected from 72 to 125 (mean 92) kJ of carbohydrates per day and 17 to 58 (mean 31) mg of protein per day. These meet the daily energy (75 kJ) and protein (20 mg) requirements of the birds. Breedig birds collected more carbohydrates and more insects, but in proportion to their increased energy and protein requirements respectively.

show abstract

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The diet of the New Holland honeyeater, Phylidonyris novaehollandiae

Paton

1982

Australian Journal of Ecology

102

118

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Mullet was chosen for the experiment because, as carrion, they form part of the diet of ghost crabs and raptors, the primary invertebrate and vertebrate scavengers in the experiments [28–30]. The fish were caught in the surf zone of local beaches by a commercial fisher.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Donor-Control of Scavenging Food Webs at the Land-Ocean Interface

et al. 2013

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Food webs near the interface of adjacent ecosystems are potentially subsidised by the flux of organic matter across system boundaries. Such subsidies, including carrion of marine provenance, are predicted to be instrumental on open-coast sandy shores where in situ productivity is low and boundaries are long and highly permeable to imports from the sea. We tested the effect of carrion supply on the structure of consumer dynamics in a beach-dune system using broad-scale, repeated additions of carcasses at the strandline of an exposed beach in eastern Australia. Carrion inputs increased the abundance of large invertebrate scavengers (ghost crabs, Ocypode spp.), a numerical response most strongly expressed by the largest size-class in the population, and likely due to aggregative behaviour in the short term. Consumption of carrion at the beach-dune interface was rapid and efficient, driven overwhelmingly by facultative avian scavengers. This guild of vertebrate scavengers comprises several species of birds of prey (sea eagles, kites), crows and gulls, which reacted strongly to concentrations of fish carrion, creating hotspots of intense scavenging activity along the shoreline. Detection of carrion effects at several trophic levels suggests that feeding links arising from carcasses shape the architecture and dynamics of food webs at the land-ocean interface.

show abstract

“…Reptilian prey is typically associated with short tarsi and toes in Accipiter (Wattel 1973), and the long tarsi of the brown goshawk presumably facilitate capture of birds and insects from the air and vegetation. As at Macclesfield, coleopterans and orthopterans have often been reported in the diet of the brown goshawk (White 1917;Heathcote 1946;Mackay 1967;Rose 1973). Despite local abundance, few crustaceans were taken: grey goshawks, A. novaehollandiae (Mathews 1909) but not brown goshawks have been reported to take crustaceans.…”

Section: Annual Dietmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Diet of the Brown Goshawk, Accipiter-Fasciatus, in Southeastern Australia

Aumann¹

1988

Wildl. Res.

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The diet of the brown goshawk, Accipiter fasciatus, was studied during 1980-83 near Macclesfield, VIc. Birds made up 63% and mammals 26% of 1769 prey items. Rabbits, Oryctolagus cuniculus, accounted for 95% of mammalian items. Mammals were estimated to contribute more to dietary biomass than birds (54 v. 46%). Other animals recorded in the diet were reptiles (Elapidae and Scincidae), insects (mostly Coleoptera and Orthoptera) and crustaceans (Engaeus spp.).Diet composition varied significantly from year to year, from season to season and, during breeding, between territories in close proximity to one another. There were significant differences in the diets of males and females. Males took relatively more birds (52 v. 24%), more insects (41 v. 21%) and fewer mammals (2 v. 48%). Differences in food between age classes were also significant. Compared to second-year and older birds, first-year birds took relatively fewer mammals (28 v. 43%), fewer birds (23 v. 49%) and more insects (43 v. 0%).

show abstract

Food of Some Australian Birds

Cited by 16 publications

References 2 publications

The diet of the New Holland honeyeater, Phylidonyris novaehollandiae

The diet of the New Holland honeyeater, Phylidonyris novaehollandiae

Donor-Control of Scavenging Food Webs at the Land-Ocean Interface

The Diet of the Brown Goshawk, Accipiter-Fasciatus, in Southeastern Australia

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About