Prey-capture efficiency between juveniles and adults, feeding habitat and abundance of Wattled Jacana foragers in northern Pantanal, Mato Grosso state, Brazil


Autoria(s): Forti, L. R.; Nobrega, P. F. A.
Contribuinte(s)

UNIVERSIDADE DE SÃO PAULO

Data(s)

21/10/2013

21/10/2013

2012

Resumo

The choice of foraging strategies implies an attempt at gaining energy by predators. Supposedly, the difference in employing the "sit and wait" or "active foraging" behavior lays in hunter skills, experience and the kind of prey consumed. With the hypothesis that "active foraging" demands no learning, in this study we compared the prey capture efficiency among Wattled Jacana juveniles and adults, and also present descriptive information about feeding habitat and the abundance variation of foragers throughout the day in the northern Pantanal. Prey capture efficiency did not differ significantly among juveniles and adults, corroborating our initial hypothesis that "active foraging" is an instinctive behavior and demands no experience to be effective. However, future work is necessary to compare the energetic quality of consumed items by juveniles and adults, searching for differences explained by adults' experience. Foraging individuals were found at an average distance of 14 m ranging from 2 to 42 m) from the margin of the sampled swamps, however 64% of the foragers were found closer to the margins. The average depth of foraging sites was 17 cm, ranging from 5 to 40 cm, although no preference for specific classes of depth was found (p > 0,05). Despite the accepted general pattern of birds being more active in the early morning, the largest number of individuals foraging was observed between 11:00 and 12:00 AM, but no significant difference was found in the abundance of foraging individuals among different periods of the day. Factors, which were not analyzed, such as food availability and presence of competitors and predators need to be studied to reveal the main factors of the spatial and temporal distribution of the Wattled Jacana.

Nucleo de Estudos Ecologicos do Pantanal/UFMT/Ministerio de Ciencias e Tecnologia

Nucleo de Estudos Ecologicos do Pantanal/UFMT/Ministerio de Ciencias e Tecnologia

Coordenacao de Aperfeicoamento de Pessoal de Nivel Superior (Capes)

Coordenacao de Aperfeicoamento de Pessoal de Nivel Superior (CAPES)

Universidade Federal de Mato Grosso

Universidade Federal de Mato Grosso

Identificador

BRAZILIAN JOURNAL OF BIOLOGY, SAO CARLOS, v. 72, n. 2, supl., Part 1-2, pp. 275-279, MAY, 2012

1519-6984

http://www.producao.usp.br/handle/BDPI/35196

10.1590/S1519-69842012000200007 

http://dx.doi.org/10.1590/S1519-69842012000200007 

Idioma(s)

eng

Publicador

INT INST ECOLOGY

SAO CARLOS

Relação

BRAZILIAN JOURNAL OF BIOLOGY

Direitos

openAccess

Copyright INT INST ECOLOGY

Palavras-Chave #FORAGING STRATEGIES #FEEDING BEHAVIOR #JACANA JACANA #SPATIAL AND TEMPORAL DISTRIBUTION #PANTANAL #ROLE-REVERSED SHOREBIRD #BEHAVIOR #SELECTION #FRUIT #BIRDS #BIOLOGY
Tipo

article

original article

publishedVersion