Avian foraging refers to the range of activities and behaviours exhibited by birds in their quest for food. In addition to their unique body adaptations, birds have a range of described behaviours that differ from the foraging behaviours of other animal groups. According to the foraging habitat, birds may be grouped into foraging guilds. Foraging includes a range of activities, starting with the search for food, making use of sensory abilities, and which may involve one or more birds either of a single or even of multiple species. This is followed by locomotion and movements to obtain or capture the food, followed by the processing or handling of the foods prior to ingestion. Like all organisms foraging entails balancing the energy spent (in search, locomotion, avoiding predators, handling food) and energy gained. The high metabolic rate of birds, among the highest in the homoeotherm groups, constrains them to ensure a net positive gain in energy and have led evolutionary ethologists to develop the idea of optimal foraging.
Foraging involves expending energy and seeking food can be both time and energy consuming. Birds make use of a variety of approaches to improve the efficiency of their foraging. These include foraging in flocks which provides many eyes to seek patches rich in food while also reducing the risk of predation by increasing the efficiency of detecting predators, increasing time spent on handling food, and by reducing individual risk. It has been suggested that individuals may exchange information for instance at communal roosts.
Foraging guildsedit
Assemblages of bird species that share common habitats or substrate from which food is gathered, and to some extent foraging technique, are conceptually grouped in foraging or trophic guilds. Various attempts have been made to classify foraging guilds for ecological studies and universal and undisputed classifications do not exist. It must also be noted that species may belong to multiple foraging guilds depending on situation (for example, while breeding, in migration, or in disturbed habitats). Specific classifications are used in ecological and behavioural studies. The classifications are often made according to multiple hierarchical criteria and a full classification may include multiple terms. To take an example a bird may be described as "nocturnal gleaning insectivore" with parts of the classification dealing with the time of day, the diet and the technique used to obtain food.
Guild classification on food type based mainly on terms used by North American ornithologists includes:[1][2]
Guild classification based on habitat or substrate from which food is gathered (from generic to specific) includes:[1]
aerial
subcanopy
ground
meadow
arboreal
bark
floral
upper canopy
lower canopy
undergrowth
foliage
water
coastal
coastal beach
coast bottom
coastal rock
coastal water surface
freshwater
freshwater marshes
freshwater bottom
freshwater shoreline
freshwater surface
mud
pelagic
pelagic surface
riparian
bottom
shoreline
Western reef heron foot stirring
Guild classifications based on foraging technique include the following. These may also involve other associated behaviours.[3]
Ambushing / stalking - waiting for prey to come within reach, may involve slow walking
Baiting is a technique known in about 12 species of herons. Here the herons drop feathers or small objects on the water surface to attract fishes to investigate the disturbance and come within striking range of the bird.[4]Burrowing owls use dung to attract beetles.[5]
Foot stirring movements are used by egrets as part of their strategy to disturb prey into range. A variation is foot raking, where the submerged sediment is disturbed by a slow and deliberate backward dragging of one of the feet.[6]
Chasing - pursuing prey on the ground
Leaping - making use of jumps that are powered by the legs
Dabbling - in aquatic birds, involves dipping the head or neck (ie not just the bill) under water
Plunging - diving from air into water to capture prey with bill or into open mouth
Foot plunging - involves plunging from the air to the water or ground surface to seize prey using the feet
Diving - in aquatic birds, involves the whole body being submerged
Excavating - in arboreal birds, searching in wood or bark by drilling a hole
Hammering - delivering a series of pecks without pause (used by woodpeckers)
Scaling - feeding under bark by removing or prying bark
Remsen and Scott (1990) more specifically defined terms like chisel and flake
Scratching - to remove a layer of substrate using the feet
Piracy or Kleptoparasitism - used by some birds to make others disgorge their prey. This is seen in many species of bird including raptors, skuas and a few others and notably absent among seed-eating birds. It is found mainly when hosts are found in numbers and when the food item is large and visible.[7]
Gleaning - picking specific items from the surface of the substrate
Hover-gleaning - picking specific items while flying
Grazing - feeding on grasses, sedges, or their seeds in fields or meadows
Probing - inserting bill into substrate and using touch or taste to detect prey
Mantling - spreading wings and body around prey to protect from piracy, especially seen in birds of prey.[8]
Tool using is seen in some birds. New Caledonian[9] and Hawaiian crows fashion tools to obtain food[10] while woodpecker finches are known to use cactus spines to extract prey out of holes in wood that are too narrow for their beaks to be inserted in.[11]
Gaping - inserting bill into substrate and then opening apart the bill to pry[3]
Grubbing - digging up soil for roots and tubers
Skimming - flying low over water to pick food items using beak
Scavenging - feeding on refuse or carrion
Hawking, fly-catching, or aerial sallying refers to obtaining aerial food, typically flying insects. The birds typically stay on the wing while handling and ingesting the prey. The more specific term flycatching is used to describe birds that fly out of a perch to capture and insect to return with the prey to a perch before handling the prey.
Flush-and-pursue - here the prey is first put into flight before pursuit[3]
Screening - flying with open bills to capture aerial prey
Straining - strain food from water or mud using special structures in the bill
Foraging - a more general term for picking food from a substrate
Other miscellaneous foraging behaviours include:
Hartlaub's gulls foot paddling.
Foot trembling movements may be used by waders such as plovers and lapwings. They are used mainly on wet soil or while wading in shallow water.[12] Some waders move around rapidly in circles, these include the phalaropes, best known for their pirouetting movements, often in deeper water that reaches until their body.[13] Among the first to document the behaviour was the German ornithologist Oskar Heinroth who described it in 1915.[14]
Foot paddling is a foraging behaviour unique to gulls (subfamily Larinae of the family Laridae). The behaviour is exhibited while perched in shallow water, and sometimes on dry land, over short grass or bare soil. The gulls rapidly move their feet up and down while staying at a spot and it is thought that this flushes subterranean prey that they then detect and feed on although there is no definite evidence. Other terms describing the term have included paddling, puddling, pumping, stamping, thumping, tramping, trampling, treading and trembling. The behaviour is found in young gulls and is considered to be innate and does not require learning.[15][16] The behaviour has been compared by lay observers to rapid dancing moves.
Referencesedit
^ abDeGraaf, Richard M.; Tilghman, Nancy G.; Anderson, Stanley H. (1985). "Foraging guilds of North American birds" (PDF). Environmental Management. 9 (6): 493–536. Bibcode:1985EnMan...9..493D. doi:10.1007/BF01867324. S2CID 85418857.
^González-Salazar, Constantino; Martínez-Meyer, Enrique; López-Santiago, Guadalupe (2014). "A hierarchical classification of trophic guilds for North American birds and mammals". Revista Mexicana de Biodiversidad. 85 (3): 931–941. doi:10.7550/rmb.38023.
^ abcRemsen Jr, J. V.; Robinson, Scott K. (1990). "A classification scheme for foraging behavor of birds in terrestrial habitats" (PDF). Studies in Avian Biology. 13: 144–160.
^Ruxton, Graeme D.; Hansell, Michael H. (2011). "Fishing with a Bait or Lure: A Brief Review of the Cognitive Issues". Ethology. 117: 1–9. doi:10.1111/j.1439-0310.2010.01848.x.
^Levey, Douglas J.; Duncan, R. Scot; Levins, Carrie F. (2004). "Use of dung as a tool by burrowing owls". Nature. 431 (7004): 39. doi:10.1038/431039a. PMID 15343324. S2CID 4351225.
^Meyerriecks, Andrew J. (1959). "Foot-Stirring Feeding Behavior in Herons" (PDF). The Wilson Bulletin. 71 (2): 153–158.
^Fischer, David L. (1985). "Piracy behavior of wintering bald eagles" (PDF). The Condor. 87 (2): 246–251. doi:10.2307/1366889. JSTOR 1366889.
^Bluff, Lucas A.; Troscianko, Jolyon; Weir, Alex A. S.; Kacelnik, Alex; Rutz, Christian (2010). "Tool use by wild New Caledonian crows Corvus moneduloides at natural foraging sites". Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences. 277 (1686): 1377–1385. doi:10.1098/rspb.2009.1953. PMC2871937. PMID 20053646.
^Uomini, Natalie; Hunt, Gavin (2017). "A new tool-using bird to crow about". Learning & Behavior. 45 (3): 205–206. doi:10.3758/s13420-017-0262-5. PMC5565641. PMID 28364366.
^Tebbich, S.; Bshary, R. (2004). "Cognitive abilities related to tool use in the woodpecker finch, Cactospiza pallida" (PDF). Animal Behaviour. 67 (4): 689–697. doi:10.1016/j.anbehav.2003.08.003. S2CID 27583776.
^Cestari, César (2009). "Foot-trembling behavior in Semipalmated Plover Charadrius semipalmatus reveals prey on surface of Brazilian beaches". Biota Neotropica. 9 (4): 299–301. doi:10.1590/S1676-06032009000400036. hdl:11449/21066. ISSN 1676-0603.
^Simmons, K.E.L. (1961). "Foot-movements in plovers and other birds" (PDF). British Birds. 54 (1): 34–38.
^Heinroth, O. (1915). "Bericht uber die Jahresversammlung der Deutschen Ornithologischen Gesellschaft in Berlin am 17 und 18 Oktober 1915". J. Orn. 64: 156–160. doi:10.1007/BF02250369. S2CID 7518789.
^Buckley, P.A. (196). "Foot‐paddling in Four American Gulls, with Comments on its Possible Function and Stimulation". Zeitschrift für Tierpsychologie. 23 (4): 395–402. doi:10.1111/j.1439-0310.1966.tb01603.x. PMID 5992179. S2CID 9504887.
^Hendricks, Paul; Hendricks, Lisa M (2006). "Foot paddling by western gulls". Northwestern Naturalist. 87 (3): 246. doi:10.1898/1051-1733(2006)87[246:fpbwg]2.0.co;2. ISSN 1051-1733. S2CID 85653951.
January 01, 1970
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Avian foraging refers to the range of activities and behaviours exhibited by birds in their quest for food In addition to their unique body adaptations birds have a range of described behaviours that differ from the foraging behaviours of other animal groups According to the foraging habitat birds may be grouped into foraging guilds Foraging includes a range of activities starting with the search for food making use of sensory abilities and which may involve one or more birds either of a single or even of multiple species This is followed by locomotion and movements to obtain or capture the food followed by the processing or handling of the foods prior to ingestion Like all organisms foraging entails balancing the energy spent in search locomotion avoiding predators handling food and energy gained The high metabolic rate of birds among the highest in the homoeotherm groups constrains them to ensure a net positive gain in energy and have led evolutionary ethologists to develop the idea of optimal foraging A mute swan grazingEnergetics editMain article Optimal foraging theory This section does not cite any sources Please help improve this section by adding citations to reliable sources Unsourced material may be challenged and removed October 2023 Learn how and when to remove this message Foraging involves expending energy and seeking food can be both time and energy consuming Birds make use of a variety of approaches to improve the efficiency of their foraging These include foraging in flocks which provides many eyes to seek patches rich in food while also reducing the risk of predation by increasing the efficiency of detecting predators increasing time spent on handling food and by reducing individual risk It has been suggested that individuals may exchange information for instance at communal roosts Foraging guilds editAssemblages of bird species that share common habitats or substrate from which food is gathered and to some extent foraging technique are conceptually grouped in foraging or trophic guilds Various attempts have been made to classify foraging guilds for ecological studies and universal and undisputed classifications do not exist It must also be noted that species may belong to multiple foraging guilds depending on situation for example while breeding in migration or in disturbed habitats Specific classifications are used in ecological and behavioural studies The classifications are often made according to multiple hierarchical criteria and a full classification may include multiple terms To take an example a bird may be described as nocturnal gleaning insectivore with parts of the classification dealing with the time of day the diet and the technique used to obtain food Guild classification on food type based mainly on terms used by North American ornithologists includes 1 2 Carnivore feeding on vertebrates Crustaceovore crustacea Insectivore insects Molluscivore molluscs Piscivore fish Vermivore various elongated invertebrates especially annelids Sanguinivore blood feeding e g oxpeckers vampire ground finch Frugivore fruits Granivore seeds Nectarivore nectar e g sunbirds hummingbirds Herbivore plants vegetative parts Omnivore a variety of foods Guild classification based on habitat or substrate from which food is gathered from generic to specific includes 1 aerial subcanopy ground meadow arboreal bark floral upper canopy lower canopy undergrowth foliage water coastal coastal beach coast bottom coastal rock coastal water surface freshwater freshwater marshes freshwater bottom freshwater shoreline freshwater surface mud pelagic pelagic surface riparian bottom shoreline source source source source source source source source Western reef heron foot stirringGuild classifications based on foraging technique include the following These may also involve other associated behaviours 3 Ambushing stalking waiting for prey to come within reach may involve slow walking Baiting is a technique known in about 12 species of herons Here the herons drop feathers or small objects on the water surface to attract fishes to investigate the disturbance and come within striking range of the bird 4 Burrowing owls use dung to attract beetles 5 Foot stirring movements are used by egrets as part of their strategy to disturb prey into range A variation is foot raking where the submerged sediment is disturbed by a slow and deliberate backward dragging of one of the feet 6 Chasing pursuing prey on the ground Leaping making use of jumps that are powered by the legs Dabbling in aquatic birds involves dipping the head or neck ie not just the bill under water Plunging diving from air into water to capture prey with bill or into open mouth Foot plunging involves plunging from the air to the water or ground surface to seize prey using the feet Diving in aquatic birds involves the whole body being submerged Excavating in arboreal birds searching in wood or bark by drilling a hole Hammering delivering a series of pecks without pause used by woodpeckers Scaling feeding under bark by removing or prying bark Remsen and Scott 1990 more specifically defined terms like chisel and flake Scratching to remove a layer of substrate using the feet Piracy or Kleptoparasitism used by some birds to make others disgorge their prey This is seen in many species of bird including raptors skuas and a few others and notably absent among seed eating birds It is found mainly when hosts are found in numbers and when the food item is large and visible 7 Gleaning picking specific items from the surface of the substrate Hover gleaning picking specific items while flying Grazing feeding on grasses sedges or their seeds in fields or meadows Probing inserting bill into substrate and using touch or taste to detect prey Mantling spreading wings and body around prey to protect from piracy especially seen in birds of prey 8 Tool using is seen in some birds New Caledonian 9 and Hawaiian crows fashion tools to obtain food 10 while woodpecker finches are known to use cactus spines to extract prey out of holes in wood that are too narrow for their beaks to be inserted in 11 Gaping inserting bill into substrate and then opening apart the bill to pry 3 Grubbing digging up soil for roots and tubers Skimming flying low over water to pick food items using beak Scavenging feeding on refuse or carrion Hawking fly catching or aerial sallying refers to obtaining aerial food typically flying insects The birds typically stay on the wing while handling and ingesting the prey The more specific term flycatching is used to describe birds that fly out of a perch to capture and insect to return with the prey to a perch before handling the prey Flush and pursue here the prey is first put into flight before pursuit 3 Screening flying with open bills to capture aerial prey Straining strain food from water or mud using special structures in the bill Foraging a more general term for picking food from a substrateOther miscellaneous foraging behaviours include source source source source source source source Hartlaub s gulls foot paddling Foot trembling movements may be used by waders such as plovers and lapwings They are used mainly on wet soil or while wading in shallow water 12 Some waders move around rapidly in circles these include the phalaropes best known for their pirouetting movements often in deeper water that reaches until their body 13 Among the first to document the behaviour was the German ornithologist Oskar Heinroth who described it in 1915 14 Foot paddling is a foraging behaviour unique to gulls subfamily Larinae of the family Laridae The behaviour is exhibited while perched in shallow water and sometimes on dry land over short grass or bare soil The gulls rapidly move their feet up and down while staying at a spot and it is thought that this flushes subterranean prey that they then detect and feed on although there is no definite evidence Other terms describing the term have included paddling puddling pumping stamping thumping tramping trampling treading and trembling The behaviour is found in young gulls and is considered to be innate and does not require learning 15 16 The behaviour has been compared by lay observers to rapid dancing moves References edit a b DeGraaf Richard M Tilghman Nancy G Anderson Stanley H 1985 Foraging guilds of North American birds PDF Environmental Management 9 6 493 536 Bibcode 1985EnMan 9 493D doi 10 1007 BF01867324 S2CID 85418857 Gonzalez Salazar Constantino Martinez Meyer Enrique Lopez Santiago Guadalupe 2014 A hierarchical classification of trophic guilds for North American birds and mammals Revista Mexicana de Biodiversidad 85 3 931 941 doi 10 7550 rmb 38023 a b c Remsen Jr J V Robinson Scott K 1990 A classification scheme for foraging behavor of birds in terrestrial habitats PDF Studies in Avian Biology 13 144 160 Ruxton Graeme D Hansell Michael H 2011 Fishing with a Bait or Lure A Brief Review of the Cognitive Issues Ethology 117 1 9 doi 10 1111 j 1439 0310 2010 01848 x Levey Douglas J Duncan R Scot Levins Carrie F 2004 Use of dung as a tool by burrowing owls Nature 431 7004 39 doi 10 1038 431039a PMID 15343324 S2CID 4351225 Meyerriecks Andrew J 1959 Foot Stirring Feeding Behavior in Herons PDF The Wilson Bulletin 71 2 153 158 Brockmann H Jane Barnard C J 1979 Kleptoparasitism in birds Animal Behaviour 27 487 514 doi 10 1016 0003 3472 79 90185 4 S2CID 53151684 Fischer David L 1985 Piracy behavior of wintering bald eagles PDF The Condor 87 2 246 251 doi 10 2307 1366889 JSTOR 1366889 Bluff Lucas A Troscianko Jolyon Weir Alex A S Kacelnik Alex Rutz Christian 2010 Tool use by wild New Caledonian crows Corvus moneduloides at natural foraging sites Proceedings of the Royal Society B Biological Sciences 277 1686 1377 1385 doi 10 1098 rspb 2009 1953 PMC 2871937 PMID 20053646 Uomini Natalie Hunt Gavin 2017 A new tool using bird to crow about Learning amp Behavior 45 3 205 206 doi 10 3758 s13420 017 0262 5 PMC 5565641 PMID 28364366 Tebbich S Bshary R 2004 Cognitive abilities related to tool use in the woodpecker finch Cactospiza pallida PDF Animal Behaviour 67 4 689 697 doi 10 1016 j anbehav 2003 08 003 S2CID 27583776 Cestari Cesar 2009 Foot trembling behavior in Semipalmated Plover Charadrius semipalmatus reveals prey on surface of Brazilian beaches Biota Neotropica 9 4 299 301 doi 10 1590 S1676 06032009000400036 hdl 11449 21066 ISSN 1676 0603 Simmons K E L 1961 Foot movements in plovers and other birds PDF British Birds 54 1 34 38 Heinroth O 1915 Bericht uber die Jahresversammlung der Deutschen Ornithologischen Gesellschaft in Berlin am 17 und 18 Oktober 1915 J Orn 64 156 160 doi 10 1007 BF02250369 S2CID 7518789 Buckley P A 196 Foot paddling in Four American Gulls with Comments on its Possible Function and Stimulation Zeitschrift fur Tierpsychologie 23 4 395 402 doi 10 1111 j 1439 0310 1966 tb01603 x PMID 5992179 S2CID 9504887 Hendricks Paul Hendricks Lisa M 2006 Foot paddling by western gulls Northwestern Naturalist 87 3 246 doi 10 1898 1051 1733 2006 87 246 fpbwg 2 0 co 2 ISSN 1051 1733 S2CID 85653951 Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Avian foraging amp oldid 1193763133, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
