The gritting behaviour of Bearded Tits Panurus biarmicus

Abstract

Many bird species need to swallow grit to grind ingested plant material before digestion can take place. Relatively little is known about the gritting behaviour of Bearded Reedlings and the aim of this study was to determine when birds take grit during the year, whether there is variation between individuals in their use of gritting resources and the prevalence of gritting in a population. This study shows that gritting took place for a limited period of nine weeks from late September to mid-December. The majority of birds in the population used the gritting resources provided but there was a marked variation between individuals in the number of visits to grit. The provision of easily obtainable grit may be an important conservation measure in the management of habitat for this species.