Seasonal variation in the diet of Spoonbill chicks in the Wadden Sea: a stable isotopes approach

El-Hacen, El-Hacen M.; Piersma, Theunis; Jouta, Jeltje; Overdijk, Otto; Lok, Tamar

doi:10.1007/s10336-014-1043-y

Cited by 15 publications

(17 citation statements)

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“…Herring gulls Larus argentatus breeding in the same areas have been shown to sometimes provision chicks with freshwater food item collected far away in inland areas (Bukacinska et al 1996). According to a study by El-Hacen et al (2014), who reconstructed their diet based on feather isotopes, freshwater prey are the main food source for spoonbill chicks on Schiermonnikoog early in the breeding season, and are replaced by marine items later on, matching the time of the year that this study was carried out. For chicks born in June–July 2010, El-Hacen et al (2014) found a contribution of brown shrimp of 37%, which is more than the SIAR estimates of 23% based on the isotope signature of RBC in the present study (Fig.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…During the breeding season spoonbills are bound to the nest and therefore restricted to a foraging range of less than 30–40 km from the breeding colony (Altenburg and Wymenga 1997 ). Although this foraging range allows them to forage in both marine and freshwater resources, chicks appear mainly to be fed with marine prey likely captured in the Wadden Sea (El-Hacen et al 2014 ).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Unexpected dietary preferences of Eurasian Spoonbills in the Dutch Wadden Sea: spoonbills mainly feed on small fish not shrimp

et al. 2018

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After an historical absence, over the last decades Eurasian Spoonbills Platalea leucorodia leucorodia have returned to breed on the barrier islands of the Wadden Sea. The area offers an abundance of predator-free nesting habitat, low degrees of disturbance, and an extensive intertidal feeding area with increasing stocks of brown shrimp Crangon crangon, the assumed main prey of P. leucorodia leucorodia. Nevertheless, newly established and expanding colonies of spoonbills have surprisingly quickly reached plateau levels. Here we tested the often stated assertion that spoonbills mainly rely on brown shrimp as food, by quantifying the diet of chicks on the basis of regurgitates and by analysis of blood isotopes using stable isotope Bayesian mixing models. Both methods showed that, rather than brown shrimp being the staple food of spoonbill chicks, small flatfish (especially plaice Pleuronectes platessa) and gobies (Pomatoschistus spp.) were their main prey. Unlike shrimp, small flatfish have been reported to be rather scarce in the Wadden Sea in recent years, which may explain the rapid saturation of colony size due to food-related density-dependent recruitment declines of growing colonies. By way of their diet and colony growth characteristics, spoonbills may thus indicate the availability of small fish in the Wadden Sea. We predict that the recovery to former densities of young flatfish and other juvenile/small fish in the Wadden Sea will be tracked by changing diets (more fish) and an increase in the size of Eurasian Spoonbill colonies across the Wadden Sea. Keywords

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Unexpected dietary preferences of Eurasian Spoonbills in the Dutch Wadden Sea: spoonbills mainly feed on small fish not shrimp

et al. 2018

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“…Most Spoonbills on Schiermonnikoog breed on the ground in saltmarsh habitat. Adult birds forage on small fish and shrimps in shallow fresh-and saltwater creeks in the vicinity of the colony (El-Hacen et al 2014).…”

Section: Study Populationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Interpreting Variation in Growth of Eurasian Spoonbill Chicks: Disentangling the Effects of Age, Sex and Environment

Lok

Overdijk²,

Piersma

2014

Ardea

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“…Thus, a combined approach of conventional dietary analysis and stable isotope analysis (SIA) for studies of feeding ecology is increasingly common in the dietary studies of waterbirds (Bearhop et al, 2001;Weiser & Powell, 2011). For instance, stable isotopes (SI) and their resulting isotopic mixing models provide key insights into opportunistic foraging patterns and have shown that many waterbirds are able to switch quickly from one food source to another (Ramos et al, 2009), which seems to be the case of egrets and spoonbills (Martínez-Vilalta & Motis, 1992;Matheu & del Hoyo, 1992;El-Hacen et al, 2014). Furthermore, dietary analysis provides key clues about important food sources to be included in isotopic mixing models, besides allowing identification of food items to species level.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 97%

“…Spoonbills prefer freshwater in some areas, such as in Florida (USA) (Lorenz et al, 2009), which may be related to a limited ability to deal with hyperosmotic prey, as demonstrated for white ibis Eudocimus albus (Linnaeus, 1758) (Johnston & Bildstein, 1990). The Eurasian spoonbill Platalea leucorodia Linnaeus, 1758 relies entirely on marine resources during breeding in Mauritania (El-Hacen et al, 2013), but may switch from limnetic to marine prey during the breeding period in The Netherlands (El-Hacen et al, 2014). Roseate spoonbills are not only tactile foragers (Dumas, 2000), but also have visual capabilities, enabling them to forage at dawn, dusk, and night (Rojas et al, 1999).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The contrasting feeding ecology of great egrets and roseate spoonbills in limnetic and estuarine colonies

Britto

Bugoni

2014

Hydrobiologia

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Multispecies colonies of wading birds frequently occur in both freshwater and estuarine environments, in locations with potentially safe places for nesting where the nearby shallow waters provide food for rearing chicks. In 2011/2012, we investigated the feeding ecology of two large-sized waterbirds, the great egret, Ardea alba, and the roseate spoonbill, Platalea ajaja, which breed sympatrically in limnetic and estuarine colonies 65 km apart in southern Brazil. Whole blood from chicks was sampled for d 13 C and d 15 N stable isotopes, and their diets were assessed using direct (conventional) methods. The diet of spoonbills consisted of fish, insects, crustaceans, mollusks, and seeds, whereas great egrets fed mainly on fish, insects, and crustaceans. Bayesian stable isotope mixing models indicated that spoonbills fed exclusively in limnetic habitats, regardless of where they bred, whereas egrets breeding in the estuarine colony fed on both estuarine and limnetic prey, expanding their isotopic niche considerably. Dietary data confirmed this result, with the diets of egrets in the freshwater colony showing high similarity to the diets of spoonbills in both freshwater and estuarine colonies. The isotopic niche overlap was the lowest between species in the estuarine colony, suggesting that the feeding plasticity of egrets reduces interspecific competition during breeding.

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Seasonal variation in the diet of Spoonbill chicks in the Wadden Sea: a stable isotopes approach

Cited by 15 publications

References 56 publications

Unexpected dietary preferences of Eurasian Spoonbills in the Dutch Wadden Sea: spoonbills mainly feed on small fish not shrimp

Unexpected dietary preferences of Eurasian Spoonbills in the Dutch Wadden Sea: spoonbills mainly feed on small fish not shrimp

Interpreting Variation in Growth of Eurasian Spoonbill Chicks: Disentangling the Effects of Age, Sex and Environment

The contrasting feeding ecology of great egrets and roseate spoonbills in limnetic and estuarine colonies

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