Factors affecting feeding activity of grey herons in a reservoir during the breeding season

Abstract

To examine factors affecting feeding efficiency of grey herons (Ardea cinerea), the foraging behavior was studied at a reservoir in Asan city, Chungcheongnam-do, South Korea during the breeding seasons (from April to July) of 2006 and 2007. Four factors (age of foraging birds, time of day, breeding stage, and microhabitat type) were analyzed. Adults were more efficient foragers than recently fledged juveniles, and they had a higher success rate than juveniles. About half of the adults caught large prey, whereas most juveniles caught only small prey. Adult grey herons had different feeding efficiency according to the breeding stage. Pecking and capture rates were high during the late period (fledging stage), and biomass intake rates were high during the early (incubating stage) and late periods. However, time of day had no significant effect on foraging activity of adult grey herons. Feeding activities of adult grey herons also showed significant variation among microhabitat types. Pecking and capture rates were higher in the submerged plants area, but capture success rate and biomass intake rate were not different according to microhabitat type.