Summer food of the golden plover Pluvialis apricaria at Hardangervidda, southern Norway

Abstract

Golden plover stomachs were examined through the breeding season al Hardangervidda, southern Norway. The main foods were Diptera larvae (in particular Tipula excisa), adult Coleoptera (notably Otiorrhynchus dubius and Carabidae), and in May and August berries of Empetrum hermaphroditum. Also some larvae of Coleoptera and Lepidoptera were taken. Adult Coleoptera were considerably more common in the diet than expected from abundance data, while Araneae were unimportant as food in spite of a high abundance. The males take the major parental duties after hatching, allowing the females a more undisturbed feeding, supposed to be strongly advantageous for them due to close proximity of egg‐laying and the start of the postnuptial moult. This is reflected in the diet: in July males showed a larger tropic diversity, and ate more adult insects and less insect larvae than the females.