Geographical and temporal patterns in the diet of pintail Anas acuta, wigeon Anas penelope, mallard Anas platyrhynchos and teal Anas crecca in the Western Palearctic

Abstract

Dabbling ducks are important quarry species, and as a result, they are relatively well studied. Over the last century, considerable effort has been made to describe their diet and food requirements. In this review, we compile present knowledge about the diet of four widespread dabbling ducks (wigeon, pintail, mallard and teal) in the Western Palearctic. Previous diet research has a spatiotemporal bias towards autumn/winter and the western parts of Europe. The limited number of studies from the breeding season reveals an increase in invertebrates in the diet compared to other seasons, but with some differences between adults and ducklings. Adult ducks eat a larger proportion of benthic invertebrates, whereas ducklings feed relatively more on emerging invertebrates. The most important plant species (seeds) based on frequency occurrence was found to vary with a geographic gradient. Carex spp., Hordeum vulgare and Hippuris vulgaris are common in the diet of birds at northern latitudes, whereas taxa such as Oryza sativa, Potamogeton pectinatus and Scirpus spp. are common in the south. The reviewed studies are based on the contents of different parts of the digestive system and on a variety of methods to quantify food items. The variations in sampling techniques and shortage of articles from the breeding season and some geographic regions highlight the need for future studies. In the future, it is important to standardize sampling techniques to improve the possibility to compare studies and to obtain a more representative view of the diet of dabbling ducks in Europe.

Seed dispersal by dabbling ducks: an overlooked dispersal pathway for a broad spectrum of plant species

“…This reflects their ecology, as in comparison with the other dabbling ducks, A. penelope is more herbivorous, while A. clypeata feeds more on invertebrates (Cramp & Simmons ; Dessborn et al . ). Yet, due to the animal‐based diet of A. clypeata the ingested seeds are likely to have a high probability of gut passage survival (Kleyheeg ).…”

“…Starting with the data set analysed by Dessborn et al . (), we searched the available literature for any duck diet studies up to December 2012, through ISI Web of Knowledge, ProQuest Biological Sciences, USGS DUCKDATA and by backtracking older studies from references in more recent articles. We also examined original studies referenced in compilations and standard handbooks (e.g.…”

Ecosystem services provided by waterbirds

“…Even a single waterbird species can feed and behave in very different ways in different ecosystems, changing its interactions such as prey control or propagule dispersal [see e.g. the spatial variation in diet for ducks (Kear, 2005;Dessborn et al, 2011a)]. Understanding such variability in time and space is vital to the proper accounting of any ecosystem service (Millennium Ecosystem Assessment, 2005).…”

Narrative overview on wild bird migration in the context of highly pathogenic avian influenza incursion into the European Union

“…As a group they are adapted to life in shallow waters, mainly feeding on vegetable matter and invertebrates, but diet shifts with availability and season (e.g. (Dessborn et al, 2011;Brochet et al, 2012)). EU is home to seven species (Cramp and Simmons, 1977), all with large breeding distribution, including the Mallard (see separate section below), but the EU is also an important wintering area for populations with natal areas outside EU, particularly eastwards into Russia.…”