Foraging behavior of the American oystercatcher Haematopus palliatus pitanay (Murphy 1925) on the intertidal ascidian Pyura praeputialis (Heller 1878) in the Bay of Antofagasta, Chile

Pacheco, Cristián; Castilla, Juan Carlos

doi:10.1007/s101640170013

Cited by 12 publications

(8 citation statements)

References 9 publications

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“…While the propensity of female oystercatchers to eat polychaete worms has been well noted (Baker 1974; Hulscher & Ens 1992; Lauro & Nol 1995), ascidians are much more atypical for the genus. The importance of this item to total diet biomass is similar to results found in Pacheco and Castilla (2001), who studied Haematopus pallitus in Chile and suggested that H. palliatus had learnt to eat local abundances of ascidians (which are not found in most of the species range, Cristian & Castilla 2001); however, sexes were not differentiated. Sex differences in ascidian predation as observed in our study are a reflection of the flexibility of niche divergence in this family, and support the hypothesis that there has been intersexual competitive exclusion in this species whereby the niche divergence has appeared to shift from the mussels and hard‐shelled prey (males)/worms (females) segregation seen in most oystercatcher species to a largely hard‐shelled prey (males)/ascidians (females) divergence in the sooty oystercatcher.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 82%

Ecological selection and sexual dimorphism in the sooty oystercatcher, Haematopus fuliginosus

Aplin¹,

Cockburn²

2011

Austral Ecology

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Male and female sooty oystercatchers (subspecies Haematopus fuliginosus fuliginosus; Haematopodidae) have an average difference in bill length of 19%. We studied the relationship between this sexual dimorphism and foraging ecology at coastal sites in southern New South Wales, Australia. Intersexual foraging divergence was most striking in diet, with seven prey classes eaten exclusively by one sex (male: 4, female: 3), and all shared prey classes eaten in different proportions. Intersexual diet partitioning was also observed in energetic rewards gained from foraging, with females gaining highest energetic benefits from eating ascidians and males from eating limpets. Furthermore, within the most commonly consumed prey item, limpets, females gained higher energetic benefit from eating smaller sizes while males gained greater rewards from the largest limpet sizes. Intersexual divergence was also observed in several aspects of foraging behaviour. Finally, there was a significant effect of tidal cycles upon intersexual niche partitioning in this species; the degree of diet divergence varied between tide conditions and females had a consistently more efficient dietary intake on neap tides than males. Diet divergence in the sooty oystercatcher is greater than previously observed in any oystercatcher, and is correlated with the largest sexual bill dimorphism recorded in this family. It is argued that intersexual competition between territorial pairs is operating to diverge male and female bill morphology.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 82%

Ecological selection and sexual dimorphism in the sooty oystercatcher, Haematopus fuliginosus

Aplin¹,

Cockburn²

2011

Austral Ecology

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“…). In addition, beached ascidians seemed to be an important alternative prey for females in Port Elizabeth, Similar feeding behaviour has been described for American pied oystercatchers ( Haematopus palliatus ) in Chile (Pacheco & Castilla ) and female sooty oystercatchers ( H. fuliginosus fuliginosus ) in Australia (Aplin & Cockburn ). In both studies, authors interpreted this uncommon behaviour as a local adaptation to the unusual abundance of Tunicidae and pointed out the niche flexibility of these birds, especially in the case of female sooty oystercatchers.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 63%

Trophic overlap between sexes in the dimorphicAfrican black oystercatcher foraging on an alien mussel

et al. 2014

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International audienceSex-specific feeding segregation related to sexual bill dimorphism has been described in several oystercatcher species, including the African black oystercatcher. For the latter, studies concerned only a small number of breeding pairs and were done prior the invasion of the South African rocky shores by the Mediterranean mussel, which is believed to have benefited oystercatchers by increasing overall biomass. Here, we investigated geographic variability in the segregation of diet, biometrics and body condition between sexes in the African species, in relation to changes in foraging habitats along the South African coastline, using stable isotope analyses. Males and females and their potential prey (mussels, limpets, polychaetes and ascidians) were sampled on the southern African west, south-west and south-east coasts for stable isotope analyses and biometrics and body conditions of birds were measured. Bill dimorphism occurred throughout the study area and south-west males had lower body conditions than other males and females in general. Sexes displayed little differences in their δ13C ratios and in the relative consumption of the different prey throughout the study area, except on the south-east coast where males were slightly depleted in 13C relative to females and the most abundant prey elsewhere (the Mediterranean mussel) is rare. Females were slightly but significantly enriched in 15N by 0.3‰ compared to their breeding partners and this did not link clearly to differences in diet.We argue that the combined effect of biogeographic variations in rocky shores diversity and biomass, heterogeneous invasion by the Mediterranean mussel on the South African coastline and bill dimorphism may have altered the sex-specific feeding behaviour of oystercatchers differently between coastal regions and possibly had an additional cost for male oystercatchers faced with lower prey biomass and diversity on the south-west coast

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“…Some families, for example oystercatchers (Haematopodidae) have a global distribution in species and the different species show similarities in foraging choices and techniques (del Hoyo et al 1996). Oystercatchers feed on a variety of intertidal prey such as oysters Ostea edulis, limpets, Patella vulgata, mussels, Mytilus edulis, periwinkles, Littorina littorea, and polychaetes (Polychaeta) (Hockey 1981, Safriel 1985, Ens et al 1992, Lauro & Nol 1995, Pacheco & Castilla 2001. These different prey types require different feeding techniques and may give a different energetic rewards in relation to their foraging effort (Lauro & Nol 1995, Pacheco & Castilla 2001.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Oystercatchers feed on a variety of intertidal prey such as oysters Ostea edulis, limpets, Patella vulgata, mussels, Mytilus edulis, periwinkles, Littorina littorea, and polychaetes (Polychaeta) (Hockey 1981, Safriel 1985, Ens et al 1992, Lauro & Nol 1995, Pacheco & Castilla 2001. These different prey types require different feeding techniques and may give a different energetic rewards in relation to their foraging effort (Lauro & Nol 1995, Pacheco & Castilla 2001. Food availability and territory quality influences not only the survival of the parents but also that of their offspring during the prefledging period (Ens et al 1996, Tjørve et al 2007.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Food of Eurasian Oystercatcher (Haematopus ostralegus) chicks raised on rocky shores in Southern Norway

Tjørve¹,

Tjørve²

2010

Ornis Norv.

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Tjørve, E. 2010. Food of Eurasian Oystercatcher (Haematopus ostralegus) chicks raised on rocky shores in Southern Norway. -Ornis Norvegica 33: 56-62.In the archipelago between Lista and Lindesnes on the southern coast of Norway, we found that Eurasian Oystercatchers, Haematopus ostralegus, chose the prey types that were most abundant within their breeding territories although periwinkles, Littorina littorea, were selected against. This indicates short foraging excursions. The archipelago is divided into three topographical sections that roughly reflect the degree of wave action. Based on differing wave action, food availability for oystercatchers differed in the three sections in the following manner: the inner-section (little wave action) easily available food (sessile blue mussels, Mytilus edulis), the middle-section (intermediate wave action) mixed food availability with a dominance of periwinkles, and the outer-section (much wave action) different prey types dominated by limpets, Patella vulgata. We observed more predation by mink, Mustela vison, in the outer section of the archipelago. The risk of predation from the larger gulls, Larus spp., seemed to be similar throughout the archipelago. Oystercatchers breeding in the inner-and middle-sections were more influenced by human activity and boat traffic than birds in the outer-section of the archipelago. The oystercatchers seemed to adapt to human disturbance thereby improving feeding conditions for both themselves and their offspring.

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Foraging behavior of the American oystercatcher Haematopus palliatus pitanay (Murphy 1925) on the intertidal ascidian Pyura praeputialis (Heller 1878) in the Bay of Antofagasta, Chile

Cited by 12 publications

References 9 publications

Ecological selection and sexual dimorphism in the sooty oystercatcher, Haematopus fuliginosus

Ecological selection and sexual dimorphism in the sooty oystercatcher, Haematopus fuliginosus

Trophic overlap between sexes in the dimorphicAfrican black oystercatcher foraging on an alien mussel

Food of Eurasian Oystercatcher (Haematopus ostralegus) chicks raised on rocky shores in Southern Norway

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