Foraging behavior of selected insectivorous birds in Cauvery Delta region of Nagapattinam District, Tamil Nadu, India

S Asokan,A Mohamed Samsoor Ali

doi:10.11609/jott.o2201.690-4

Abstract

This paper reports the foraging behavior of five insectivorous birds, namely White-breasted Kingfisher Halcyon smyrnensis, Small Bee-eater Merops orientalis, Indian Roller Coracias benghalensis, Common Myna Acridotheres tristis and Black Drongo Dicrurus macrocercus in Nagapattinam District of Tamil Nadu, India. The birds used a variety of perch types for hunting insect prey; in general the electric power line was a common perch type used by all species except the Common Myna. The perching and foraging height used by birds were classified into 3 meter categories, up to 12m. Aerial feeding or hawking in Bee-eaters and ground feeding in Common Mynas were major feeding techniques, recorded 68% and 86% of the time respectively. The other three species used gleaning as a feeding technique. The highest niche overlap was recorded between Indian Rollers and Black Drongos and between White-breasted Kingfishers and Indian Rollers.

Highlights

Studies on the foraging ecology of birds have been used to explain the community structure, resource use and competition or co-existence in a particular habitat
This paper reports the foraging behavior of five insectivorous birds, namely Whitebreasted Kingfisher Halcyon smyrnensis, Small Bee-eater Merops orientalis, Indian Roller Coracias benghalensis, Common Myna Acridotheres tristis and Black Drongo Dicrurus macrocercus in Nagapattinam District of Tamil Nadu, India
The birds used a variety of perch types for hunting insect prey; in general the electric power line was a common perch type used by all species except the Common Myna

Summary

Introduction

Studies on the foraging ecology of birds have been used to explain the community structure, resource use and competition or co-existence in a particular habitat. The foraging guilds in a bird community are described by the way species obtain food, the types of food taken, the foraging substrates exploited, and the heights at which different species forage (MacNally 1994). These data help to compare communities within and between habitats (Recher & Davis 1998; Gokula & Vijayan 2000) and to assess the health of the ecosystem and management needs for the conservation of species and ecosystems (Lawton 1996; Loyn 2002). The role of foraging substrates in prey selection in insectivorous birds has been noted by Bell & Ford (1990), Hutto (1990), Asokan (1995) and Gokula & Vijayan (2000)

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Results

Conclusion