Abstract
During a warm and dry summer crops of 0-27 day-old chicks contained nearly twice as much food by dry weight as during an extremely wet and cold summer. Weather did not influence the ratio of insects and plants in the diet but greatly influenced the insect prey selection. During the warm summer chicks selectively fed on larvae (80%), while in the cold summer they fed mainly on smaller insects like Cicadinae, Aphidinae, and adult Diptera. A drop in mean ambient temperature from 19.5 to 90C and rain reduced the available feeding time for 2-5 day-old chicks by about 60%. This reduced feeding time was caused by shorter feeding periods (mean of 20.8 and 7.8 min) and longer resting periods during evening and night. Evidence is also presented that in bad weather young chicks avoid habitats with dense vegetation (which supports the best food supply) to avoid becoming wet. Extremely cold and wet weather is suggested to be critical in preventing sufficient food intake in Willow Grouse chicks.
Published Version
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