The Foraging Behavior of Semipalmated Sandpipers in the Upper Bay of Fundy: Stereotyped or Prey-Sensitive?

The Condor ◽  
1997 ◽  
Vol 99 (1) ◽  
pp. 206-210 ◽  
Author(s):  
W. Herbert Wilson, ◽  
Erin R. Vogel
Keyword(s):  
Foraging Behavior ◽  
Bay Of Fundy ◽  
Semipalmated Sandpipers

Variation in diet of Semipalmated Sandpipers (Calidris pusilla) during stopover in the upper Bay of Fundy, Canada

2012 ◽  
Vol 90 (9) ◽  
pp. 1181-1190 ◽  
Author(s):  
J.T. Quinn ◽  
D.J. Hamilton
Keyword(s):  
Diet Composition ◽  
Prey Availability ◽  
Prey Selection ◽  
Bay Of Fundy ◽  
Corophium Volutator ◽  
Stopover Site ◽  
Semipalmated Sandpiper ◽  
Calidris Pusilla ◽  
Isotope Analyses ◽  
Semipalmated Sandpipers

Semipalmated Sandpipers ( Calidris pusilla (L., 1766)) use the upper Bay of Fundy, Canada, as a critical stopover site during their annual fall migration to wintering grounds in South America. While in the area, they feed extensively on mudflat invertebrates. Historically the amphipod Corophium volutator (Pallas, 1766) has been thought to make up the majority of their diet. However, we have recently observed flexibility in foraging behaviour and prey selection by sandpipers. The extent of this flexibility and the current diet composition is unknown. To address these knowledge gaps, we assessed Semipalmated Sandpiper diets using stable isotope analyses of blood plasma and available prey items. Data were collected in two arms of the Bay of Fundy during summer 2009 and 2010. Diets fluctuated between years and sites, but in all cases the diet was much more diverse than previously thought. Polychaetes and biofilm made substantial contributions, and C. volutator was still present in the diet, but at much reduced levels than previously noted. This previously unrecognized inclusion of biofilm in the diet is consistent with recent observations of other calidrid shorebirds. Based on measures of prey availability, there is little evidence of preference for C. volutator.

Some aspects of the foraging ecology of migrant juvenile sandpipers in the outer Bay of Fundy

1984 ◽  
Vol 62 (9) ◽  
pp. 1889-1892 ◽  
Author(s):  
G. W. Gratto ◽  
M. L. H. Thomas ◽  
C. L. Gratto
Keyword(s):  
Benthic Invertebrates ◽  
Foraging Ecology ◽  
Bay Of Fundy ◽  
Large Prey ◽  
Intertidal Flat ◽  
Corophium Volutator ◽  
Semipalmated Sandpipers ◽  
Size Refuge

Thirty-seven sandpipers (29 semipalmated and 8 least) were collected in early September 1983 on an intertidal flat on the outer Bay of Fundy. Analysis of esophagus and gizzard contents revealed a variety of benthic invertebrates but the diets of both species were dominated by the amphipod Corophium volutator (Pallas). Females of both species ate larger Corophium than did males of the same species. Both least and semipalmated sandpipers were underutilizing a cohort of large (7–10 mm) Corophium. It is possible that the large amphipods have reached a size refuge from predation such that the energy required to handle and ingest these large prey offsets too great a portion of the energy obtained.

Are disproportionate losses of eastern breeding Semipalmated Sandpipers (Calidris pusilla) driving declines in the upper Bay of Fundy, Canada?

10.1676/17-63 ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 131 (2) ◽  
pp. 260
Author(s):  
Sydney E. Bliss ◽  
Diana J. Hamilton ◽  
Cheri Gratto-Trevor ◽  
Julie Paquet
Keyword(s):  
Bay Of Fundy ◽  
Calidris Pusilla ◽  
Semipalmated Sandpipers

Selection of foraging sites and invertebrate prey by migrant Semipalmated Sandpipers, Calidris pusilla (Pallas), in Minas Basin, Bay of Fundy

1984 ◽  
Vol 62 (11) ◽  
pp. 2201-2210 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter W. Hicklin ◽  
P. C. Smith
Keyword(s):  
Visual Cues ◽  
Size Composition ◽  
Fine Sand ◽  
Bay Of Fundy ◽  
Particle Sizes ◽  
Corophium Volutator ◽  
Prey Behavior ◽  
Coarse To Fine ◽  
Selection Of ◽  
Semipalmated Sandpipers

We determined the particle size composition of substrates, the species composition and abundances of mud-dwelling invertebrates, and the distribution, densities, and diets of Semipalmated Sandpipers foraging on different mud flats in Minas Basin, Bay of Fundy, during the birds' southward migration. Substrate types varied between the mud flats used by shorebirds; particle sizes ranged from sandy (coarse to fine sands) to muddy (mainly silt and clay). Of 34 species of invertebrates identified, the polychaetes Spiophanes bombyx (Clarapede) and Heteromastus filiformis (Clarapede) and the amphipod Corophium volutator (Pallas) were the most numerous and widely distributed. Spiophanes and the "bamboo" worm Clymenella torquata (Leidy) were more abundant in coarse sandy substrates whereas numbers of Heteromastus were negatively correlated with grain size. The densities of Corophium were positively correlated with the amount of very fine sand in the substrate. The sandpipers foraged in larger numbers on mud flats where densities of Corophium were greatest and it was the main prey taken at those sites. The birds' diet was more diverse in areas of low Corophium density. It appears that the birds use visual cues for foraging and that prey behavior is particularly important in their choice of prey items.

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