Digestive organ morphology, diet, and guild structure of North American Anatidae

1987 ◽  
Vol 65 (7) ◽  
pp. 1812-1817 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gregory G. Barnes ◽  
Vernon G. Thomas
Keyword(s):  
North American ◽  
Food Habits ◽  
Feeding Habits ◽  
Feeding Guilds ◽  
Canada Geese ◽  
Guild Structure ◽  
Diet Diversity ◽  
Branta Bernicla ◽  
Carnivorous Species ◽  
Clangula Hyemalis

Discriminant function, cluster, and covariate analyses of gizzard, small intestine, and ceca weights were used to quantify the structure of feeding guilds and the effects of diet on gut morphology for 18 species of North American anatids. Guild structure based on gut measurements closely approximated that identified by generalized feeding habits. Herbivorous species such as Brant (Branta bernicla), Gadwall (Anas strepera), Redheads (Aythya americana), Canada Geese (Branta canadensis), and Mallards (Anas platyrhynchos) consistently had heavier gizzards and ceca than carnivorous species such as Common Goldeneye (Bucephala clangula), Bufflehead (Bucephala albeola), Oldsquaw (Clangula hyemalis), and Common Mergansers (Mergus merganser). Omnivorous species such as Lesser Scaup (Aythya afftnis), Greater Scaup (Aythya marila), and American Black Ducks (Anas rubripes) were characterized by heavy gizzards, intermediate ceca, and heavy intestines. The results provide further evidence that intestine size is primarily influenced by overall diet diversity and suggest that gut size may be used to indicate general food habits. The ability of waterfowl to adjust gut sizes and accommodate dietary changes is restricted to ranges dictated by the most frequently eaten foods. Thus, predictions of general food habits can be made without knowledge of the foods being consumed at a particular time and location.

EXPERIMENTAL INFECTIONS OF CYCLOPID COPEPODS WITH TRIAENOPHORUS CRASSUS FOREL AND T. NODULOSUS (PALLAS)

1960 ◽  
Vol 38 (2) ◽  
pp. 345-356 ◽  
Author(s):  
N. H. F. Watson ◽  
J. L. Price
Keyword(s):  
Infection Rate ◽  
North American ◽  
Feeding Habits ◽  
The Other ◽  
Experimental Infections ◽  
Carnivorous Species ◽  
Important Host ◽  
Herbivorous Species ◽  
Cyclops Scutifer

Coracidia of both Triaenophorus crassus and T. nodulosus were fed to 19 species of cyclopid copepods, and coracidia of one or the other were fed to 4 other species. Procercoids of both species of parasite developed in nine species of cyclopids. Three species were infected with T. crassus only and four with T. nodulosus only. Size or feeding habits of the specimens did not influence the ingestion of coracidia. The presence of non-feeding individuals may have influenced the infection rate of some species. Herbivorous species, carnivorous species, and species which did not become infected ate large quantities of coracidia.Microcyclops varicans rubellus was the most easily infected cyclopid species in the experiments. It is probably an important host of Triaenophorus in North American lakes along with Cyclops bicuspidatus thomasi, Cyclops brevispinosus, and, in certain areas, Cyclops scutifer.

North American weasels: resource utilization and distribution

1979 ◽  
Vol 57 (3) ◽  
pp. 504-520 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. A. Simms
Keyword(s):  
Resource Utilization ◽  
North American ◽  
Food Habits ◽  
Feeding Habits ◽  
Habitat Preferences ◽  
Microtus Pennsylvanicus ◽  
Foraging Strategies ◽  
Meadow Voles ◽  
General Distributions ◽  
Successional Communities

A livetrapping program, augmented by enclosure experiments, was undertaken to study resource utilization by ermine (Mustela erminea) and long-tailed weasels (M. frenata) in southern Ontario. Data on food habits, habitat preferences, foraging strategies, and competitive interactions were collected. Based on this information, a theory was formulated to explain the distribution or North American weasels. Ermine fed primarily on meadow voles (Microtus pennsylvanicus) and had body diameters closely approximating those of meadow voles, enabling them to readily exploit these items in subnivean and subterranean environments. Long-tailed weasels were larger and their feeding habits were more general. Dietary overlap between the two species in areas of sympatry was 57.5%. Regarding habitat preferences, ermine selected successional communities, whereas long-tailed weasels showed no preferences. Overlap in areas of sympatry was 76.9%.Long-tailed weasels appear to be limited in their northward distribution by snow cover which restricts the size of foraging spaces, thereby conferring an advantage to the smaller weasels. Conversely, the southward distributions of ermine and least weasels (M. nivalis) appear to be limited by interference interactions with long-tailed weasels. Where ermine and least weasels are sympatric, size differences and general distributions suggest that they hunt different prey in different habitats.

scholarly journals The impact of Sosnowsky’s Hogweed on feeding guilds of birds

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Emilia Grzędzicka ◽  
Jiří Reif
Keyword(s):  
Negative Impact ◽  
Bird Community ◽  
Plant Invasions ◽  
Bird Communities ◽  
Feeding Guilds ◽  
Guild Structure ◽  
Feeding Guild ◽  
Potential Impact ◽  
Underlying Mechanisms ◽  
The Impact

AbstractPlant invasions alter bird community composition worldwide, but the underlying mechanisms still require exploration. The investigation of feeding guild structure of bird communities can be informative in respect to the potential impact of invasion features on the availability of food for birds. For this purpose, we focused on determining the influence of the invasive Sosnowsky’s Hogweed Heracleum sosnowskyi on the abundance of birds from various feeding guilds. In spring and summer 2019, birds were counted three times on 52 pairs of sites (control + Heracleum) in southern Poland, at various stages of Sosnowsky’s Hogweed development (i.e. sprouting, full growth and flowering, all corresponding to respective bird counts). We have shown that the presence of invader negatively affected the abundance of birds from all feeding guilds. However, a closer examination of the invaded sites uncovered that responses of particular guilds differed in respect to development stages expressed by a set of characteristics of the invader. Ground and herb insectivores were more common on plots with a higher number of the invader, while the abundance of bush and tree insectivores was negatively correlated with hogweeds’ height. Granivores were not affected by the invader’s features, while the abundance of omnivores was negatively related to the number of flowering hogweeds. Besides showing the general negative impact of the invader on different feeding guilds, our research has shown that certain aspects of Sosnowsky’s Hogweed invasion may support or depress occurrence of different birds on invaded plots. Knowledge of these aspects may facilitate our capacity for coping with challenges the invasive plants put in front of bird conservationists.

Sexual Dimorphism and Food Habits in Three North American Accipiters

The Auk ◽  
1966 ◽  
Vol 83 (3) ◽  
pp. 423-436 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert W. Storer
Keyword(s):  
Sexual Dimorphism ◽  
North American ◽  
Food Habits

scholarly journals Seasonal Occurence of Food and Feeding Habit of Labeo bata(Hamilton) (Cypriniformes : Cyprinidae)

2015 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 7-15 ◽  
Author(s):  
Md. Abdur Razzaq Joadder
Keyword(s):  
Food Habits ◽  
Feeding Habits ◽  
Feeding Habit ◽  
Water Bodies ◽  
Feeding Intensity ◽  
Higher Plant ◽  
Plant Parts ◽  
Labeo Bata ◽  
Food And Feeding ◽  
Potential Food

Food and feeding habits of fishes have a great significance in aquaculture practices. It helps to select such species of fishes for culture which will utilize all the available potential food of the water bodies without much competition with one another but will live in association with other fishes. This paper deals with the feeding intensity and food habits of L. bata . Food and feeding habit of freshwater minor carp Labeo bata (120 to 250 mm total length) were studied. The fish is a herbivore, feeding mainly on algae (22.32 %), higher plant parts (31.26 %), protozoans (7.42 %), crustaceans (15.33 %), insects (3.56 %), muds, sand, debris and detritus (16.32 %) and unidentified food materials (3.99%).Journal of Science Foundation, 2014;12(1):7-15

The Food Habits of North American Golden Eagles

1976 ◽  
Vol 95 (1) ◽  
pp. 231 ◽  
Author(s):  
Richard R. Olendorff
Keyword(s):  
North American ◽  
Food Habits ◽  
Golden Eagles

Detailed comparative morphology of the peri-oral structures of the Mysidacea and Euphausiacea (Crustacea): an indication for the food preference

2001 ◽  
Vol 81 (2) ◽  
pp. 235-241 ◽  
Author(s):  
L. De Jong-Moreau ◽  
B. Casanova ◽  
J.-P. Casanova
Keyword(s):  
Food Preference ◽  
Feeding Habits ◽  
Comparative Morphology ◽  
Gut Content ◽  
Scanning Microscope ◽  
Content Analyses ◽  
Carnivorous Species ◽  
Meganyctiphanes Norvegica ◽  
Molar Process

Scanning microscope investigations were carried out on mandibles, labrum and paragnaths of several species of Mysidacea and Euphausiacea. Gut content analyses were in agreement with morphological observations. It appears that the morphology of the peri-oral structures and especially of the mandibles reflect the feeding habits, and that the well known relationships between the size of the molar process and the incisor one, i.e. a large molar process is associated with herbivorous feeding, is not always verified. Bacescomysis abyssalis and Bentheuphausia amblyops are believed to be mostly saprophagous, Boreomysis inermis and Meganyctiphanes norvegica are mostly phytophagous, Hemimysis speluncola is omnivorous, while Siriella armata and Thysanopoda orientalis are carnivorous species.

scholarly journals Studies on the Food and Feeding Habits of Swamp Deer (Rucervus duvaucelii duvaucelii) in Jhilmil Jheel Conservation Reserve, Haridwar, Uttarakhand, India

ISRN Zoology ◽  
2013 ◽  
Vol 2013 ◽  
pp. 1-6 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. Tewari ◽  
G. S. Rawat
Keyword(s):  
Land Use ◽  
Food Habits ◽  
Ecological Study ◽  
Feeding Habits ◽  
Feeding Habit ◽  
Major Objective ◽  
Quadrat Method ◽  
Food And Feeding ◽  
Swamp Deer ◽  
Land Use Practices

Food habits of the swamp deer (Rucervus duvaucelii duvaucelii) were studied in and around Jhilmil Jheel Conservation Reserve (JJCR), Uttarakhand, for two years. This population (320 in number) was recently rediscovered in the state (2005) and warranted an ecological study because the habitat around this study area is heavily fragmented due to expansion of agriculture, habitation, and various other land use practices. Therefore, this study was initiated by the major objective of studying seasonal variation in food habits of swamp deer. Proportionate food consumption was studied using feeding quadrat method. The study reveals that the overall diet of swamp deer consisted mainly of graminoids (grasses and sedges) and herbs (terrestrial and aquatic). In the protected areas studied earlier, the swamp deer habitat was dominated by grasses, and hence they were reported to be predominantly a grazer who occasionally fed on aquatic plants (Schaller 1967 and others). In contrast, at Jhilmil, the area also has equal presence of other plant types namely, sedges and terrestrial herbs. This resulted in polyphagous feeding habit of animal here.

scholarly journals Taxonomy-based differences in feeding guilds of fish

2019 ◽  
Vol 66 (1) ◽  
pp. 51-56
Author(s):  
Javier Sánchez-Hernández
Keyword(s):  
Trophic Ecology ◽  
Feeding Habits ◽  
Empirical Support ◽  
Taxonomic Resolution ◽  
Feeding Guilds ◽  
Generic Level ◽  
Taxonomic Relatedness ◽  
Genus Level ◽  
Marine Vs Freshwater ◽  
And Behavior

Abstract It has been taken for granted that feeding guilds and behavior in animals are linked to the taxonomic relatedness of species, but empirical evidence supporting such relationship is virtually missing. To examine the importance of taxonomy on trophic ecology, I here present the first well-resolved dietary taxonomy analysis based on feeding guilds (predation, herbivory, and filtering) among families and genera within the fish order Perciformes. Taxonomic relatedness in feeding did not vary with ecosystem dimension (marine vs. freshwater). Although predation dominates among Perciformes fishes, this study shows that in most cases taxonomic units (family or genus) are composed by species with several feeding guilds. Related species are more similar in feeding compared with species that are taxonomically more distant, demonstrating that there is a greater variation of feeding guilds within families than genera. Thus, there is no consistency in feeding guilds between family- and genus-level taxonomy. This study provides empirical support for the notion that genera are more informative than families, underlining that family-level taxonomy should be avoided to infer feeding habits of fish species at finer taxonomic resolution. Thus, the choice of taxonomic resolution (family or genus level) in ecological studies is key to avoid information loss and misleading results. I conclude that high-rank taxonomic units (i.e., above the generic level) are not appropriate to test research hypotheses about the feeding of fish.

Blood parasites of geese of the McConnell River, N.W.T.

1972 ◽  
Vol 50 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-4 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gordon F. Bennett ◽  
Charles D. MacInnes
Keyword(s):  
Boreal Forest ◽  
North American ◽  
Plasmodium Species ◽  
Blood Parasites ◽  
Canada Geese ◽  
Young Of The Year ◽  
Low Incidence ◽  
Goose Species

Of 736 blue, snow, and Canada geese from the McConnell River, N.W.T. which were examined for blood parasites only 21 birds (2.9%) were found to be infected. Of these, 15 infections were with Leucocytozoon simondi (2.0%) and 2 each with Parahaemoproteus nettionis, Plasmodium species, and microfilaria. Both adults and young of the year were infected. We suggest that the low incidence is an indirect result of adaptations of the simuliid vectors to tundra conditions. It is possible that increased incidence of L. simondi in the boreal forest is a factor contributing to the restriction of five of the six North American goose species to the tundra nesting habit.

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